Dueling Destiny
by Denad
Summary: Growing up, all we want is to forge a path for ourselves. We want to discover the world, and while we're at it, discover ourselves. More often than not, the journey involves heart-aches, mistakes, and quite a few scars, but admist all the chaos, if one looks very closely, they can find their own kind of happiness.
1. The Beginning of the end

Dueling Destiny

Underneath me I could see the lighting flash of metal glinting brightly in the sun. The soft clank barely reached my ears from up in my tower jail cell or as my parents call it my room. A sigh left my throat. I was stuck in here while the squire boys could scrimmage freely below! It wasn't fair! Just because I was a girl! Well that had never stopped me before, why should I start now? "Mother may I please go for a walk out in the garden? It's so beautiful!" I looked at my step-mom (she liked me to call her mom but to me she was my step mother) with my big, begging, puppy-dog-blue eyes. She tried to look stern but I could see the tiniest hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth. I smiled as she dismissed me with a flick of her hand. I walked out my chamber door and shut it gently behind me. I looked along the hall both ways and luckily found the hall deserted. I walked along to my left counting the rose colored glass windows along my way.

On the third one I took two more steps and then found the king's crown shape in the wall. I turned it counter-clock wise and pushed it in. There was a soft slow rumbling as the wall behind me slowly rumbled to life, sliding along. I turned around and a small mischievous smile crossed my lips. My secret tunnel! I walked along the dark tunnel listening for any sounds. "Sakira! Sakira are you here?" I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of Daleigh's voice!

"Daleigh don't do that to me!" I heard her snicker a little bit and I wished it wasn't so dark so I could at least give her an evil glare. Daleigh was one of my lady's in waiting but she was also one of my best friends mostly against my mother's wishes. "Daleigh do you have my cape?"

"Right here!" I felt the soft fabric run across my hands and grabbed hold of it. I tied it around my neck and adjusted it so as much of my body was hidden behind its ruffled fabric, the hood could go on later.

"Okay now that, that is settled I'll race you!" I took off running towards the exit of our passage at full speed. The soft patter of our feet, with our laughter echoed of the walls. A light from the outside world marked the end of our secret tunnel. I saw a flash of Daleigh's red hair flashed behind me and I ran faster towards the entrance. The moss covered floor along with 

the light gray walls, and the light made the tunnel look like a mystical entrance to new world. Where the knights traveled on their journeys and mystical creatures ruled. I saw the familiar green shrub that hid our tunnel from the outer courtyard and sighed. My dream to be a knight and travel the world just wasn't meant to be. I slowed down to a walk at the edge of the tunnel and waited for Daleigh to catch her breath. She walked up beside me her usual smile on her face. "Here Sakira let me fix your hood. It wouldn't do to let any of the men see your face while you were sparing! Your dream of being a knight would be over before it began!" I smiled as she tied my hair behind me so none would get loose and pulled my hood over my head. "There now no one will see your face!" The hood had miraculously stayed put through my numerous spares and my secret safe. I walked towards the shrub and found my blunted sword hanging from its branch (all knights just used blunted swords when sparing. The real ones were for real fights) I pulled it out of its scabbard and smiled as the light glinted off its shiny surface. Finally to feel its familiar weight in my hand again. I dodged my way through the many branches of the shrub finally to see the green grass before me. The clanking of the knights' swords was louder now and my heart skipped a beat. I had fought many knights before and I was good too but my heart always raced at the thought of it.

I walked across the lawn to where all the other knights were fighting. I stood on the hill as men fought all around me and I felt a sense of belonging. All of the sudden everything stopped as they caught sight of me. When I said I was good I kind of meant it. I hadn't lost a fight since ever. It had gone to the point where Daleigh made the challenge that any man who beat me would be able to see my true face. All the more adding to the pressure for me to win my spares. But all of that is off topic so back to the story. I took a step forward to see if any dared challenge me but all stepped back afraid of losing. I looked around at the men's faces, were none willing to face me anymore? Then a man pushed his way through the tangle of knights and stepped forward towards me. Excellent a challenger.

I looked him over finding any weak spot I could find. In battle even the smallest of things is important. He was tall, maybe a couple of inches taller than me. He slightly leaned on his right leg so go for the left, the weaker leg. He held his sword in his right hand though so aim for the right side. ( It's harder to defend the arm with the sword) That would balance him out pretty well making anything fair game. This was going to be an interesting spare. I had never fought him before but he seemed strangely familiar as if he was from a memory of a memory. " Make the first move" I tried to 

muster the manliest voice I could like I always did when speaking to these guys but honestly I have no idea how I ever fooled these guys. The guy lunged at me rather slowly and clumsily. I took a quick side step and saw him as he ran right past me. To easy! But then he put his foot down and stopped suddenly turning and pushed all his weight off of that foot right at me. It had been a fake out! I rolled off to the side as quickly as I could and could feel my heart pounding. That was close, a little too close for comfort.

I was going to have to stay on my toes if I didn't want to get hit! Then I saw a flash of metal and ducked to the ground putting all my momentum into around the house kick. He jumped up and I could feel the bottom of his shoe on my bare foot. He lunged his sword at me again and I rolled backwards and hopped to my feet. I was a few feet away from me and I was on high alert from anything he could throw at me. My breathing was hard now but a smile crept to my lips. This was the most challenging spare I've had yet! I looked him in the eyes reading trying to read his next move but they held no clues. Obviously he had been trained well. I saw a smile on his face as he just stood there waiting. "I see you have some fancy foot work, I do too." I flipped through the air landing just inches away from me he swung his sword high to my arm and I blocked it away with mine. He started doing multiple attacks all over and I had to push myself to keep up with him, to block his sword. So far he had put me on the defense; to win that would need to change. Our swords met in a lock both of us in a tug-of war with our swords. I could feel sweat rolling down my forehead.

I brought my leg up and almost kicked him in the gut but he was too quick and jumped back. I heard him laugh a little. Was I that easy to beat to him? No there was sweat rolling down his face too and his breathing was as heavy as mine. I told myself to relax a little and took a deep breath trying to calm my nerves a little. Then he aimed his sword and aimed it at my knees and pushed his sword forward really slowly, I put my sword down to block it but then he angled his sword ever so slightly and put the last remaining energy into it. The tip of his sword hit me squarely in the wrist making me drop it. I tried to grab it with my left hand but he was too quick and beat me to it. He grabbed it and then did a last and final kick to the back of my legs knocking me to the ground. I had lost my first and my last spare.


	2. horrible timing

I sighed and tears started to sting my eyes. I rolled my head over at Daleigh and could see her hand over her mouth and tears had budded in her eyes as well .She knew what sparing had meant to me. A roar went up from the crowd of men as it finally sank in that I had lost. They would see my true face and I wondered what they would do when they found out it was me. Their pride would be severely damaged if they found they lost to a girl, and a princess to make matters worse. In a way they had kind of depended on me to win and this mysterious person took that away from me. He held his hand out to me but I just brushed it off and hopped to my feet on my own. There was no way I was going to give **him **the satisfaction of that too! I looked around at the cheering crowd and was stunned to see what a crowd our fight had drawn. There not only were knights but pages, and servants, and even my brother Prince Ryan.

Oh this was not good. If it had been just the knights then maybe I could rely on their prides to keep this mum and I could maybe fight again with fresh knights but with my brother and the young boys I was a goner. My mother would kill me as soon as my brother told her or if he didn't because of his pride (I had beat him too) she would definitely hear it from the servants. I sighed again and put my hands to my hood waiting to seal my own doom when **his** voice stopped me "Wait not here, I wish to see your face in private." WHAT? I had expected him to add to my torture not save me from my fate! I looked at him shocked. Had he seen something during the fight? If so had others? I looked back out to the crowd and saw all of them were forlorn and glaring at the mysterious newcomer. None looked as if they knew my secret so how was it this guy knew? Was it possible he didn't he just wanted to be the envy of all the knights by keeping them in the dark? It had to be the latter. He walked off and I followed him not looking back for Daleigh.

He led to the large rose garden in the middle of the garden and led me through the numerous twists and turns to the very heart of the maze. I took a deep breath as he turned to me and the rose perfume filled my nose. "Why didn't you make me take off my hood in front of the men?" I didn't bother to use that ridiculous guy voice. He would know soon enough so why bother? I looked at his eyes but if he was surprised they gave nothing away but I had the feeling he had known all along and had fought me any way but how? "How did you know who I was?"

He smiled "I was at one of the balls your parents held. I happened to see you sneak outside but decided to let you be, that is until your mother 

sent me to find you. I found you out in the courtyard practicing sword play in that very same cloak. Plus your "voice" it needs some work." That's when I remembered Prince Caleb! That was where I knew him from! I had always hated those balls and often snuck out when I couldn't take anymore but I never knew any one had ever seen me before! "May I?" I nodded my head. His hands reached out to my hood and pushed it away from my face. Sun beamed down to my eyes and I had to fight the temptation to block it out with my hand. My eyes adjusted to the sudden change in light and I looked around. Everything looked so different without the hood on.

I felt like a different person too. Like when I had the hood on I was all serious and on high alert all the time but without it I was just the princess out for a walk in the sun. I heard a crack of branches behind me and I whirled around. Oh no! Around the corner walked Daleigh! "Daleigh! You gave me a heart attack! Really you need to stop doing that!" She smiled at me and all the anger melted away from my heart and I could feel a smile form at the corners of my mouth. That girl had the most infectious smile; she could solve any problem between even the worst of enemies just with that smile.

"There you are Sakira! I've been looking everywhere for you! Here give me that cape many of the knights are looking for where Prince Caleb took that mysterious knight and we don't want anyone else to know!" I looked around to see if there was anyone who had been spying on us but the six foot wall of flowers hid us from all prying eyes. I quickly untied the knot from around my neck and handed it to Daleigh who promptly hid it in the purse she always wore.

"I better get going then goodbye Princess Sakira, and mam." He bowed before us and turned to leave the way we came but something made me not want to see him go.

"Wait you can call me Sakira or Kira whichever and this is my friend Daleigh." He turned and gave me a smiled then walked off. Daleigh began to giggle and I looked at her. "What? What is it Daleigh?"

"Nothing! It's just…you like him don't you!?" I was shocked! I barely even knew him how could I like him?

"No!" She nodded but she still giggled and small dimples formed at the sides of her mouth. I've said it before and I'll say it again sometimes that girl. I shook my head at her a little "Come on we better go too." I 

grabbed her by the arm and was about to walk out of the little square we were in to the rows of paths leading us back when all of the sudden my brother appeared before me his face red with running.

"Sakira there you are! You know that man that I've told you so much about? Well he finally lost to Prince Caleb! I was so close to seeing his face but then Caleb said he wanted to see the man's face in private! I was so close! Have you happened to see him?" He looked at me with such eager in his face I felt a pang of remorse at not telling him.

"No I haven't seen your mysterious man have you Princess Sakira?" I shook my head no and I saw my brother's excitement fade away. "Okay well any way mother says to bring you to dinner any way. You might want to get cleaned up too. How did you get so dirty?" I looked down and saw my cloak hadn't kept all of me from dirt. There were small streaks of dirt on my dress and my hair was more than likely a mess.

"I tripped on a branch that was sticking up from the ground. Don't worry though I'll get cleaned up so my step-mother won't have to worry okay?" He sighed and nodded at me. For being younger than me by two years sometimes he could be really bossy. He turned around and walked out of the rose maze with me and Daleigh on his heels. I walked out the rose maze and was halfway to the gate to the inside castle when I accidentally ran into my step mother. _**I was so close to my room! **_"Sakira! You look horrible! Get dressed as well as you can we have company over! Prince Caleb is here all the way from Taman! You better be dressed and ready in thirty minutes or no dinner for you!" I walked past her head down trying to look ashamed of myself but I smiled as I did it. Everything was the same more or less and my secret was safe. I walked to my room and looked through my closet trying to decide what to wear. The door opened and in walked Daleigh. "No you should wear the blue one! It matches your eyes and looks so beautiful with your brown hair! Speaking of which I have to do something with it! Let's go with an up-do! No wait I have it!" She rushed over to the closet and pulled out a light blue dress with a gold waist band and small golden flowers printed all over the skirt.

I smiled a tortured smile and let Daleigh take over. I knew this side of her very well. She loved doing this and got quite upset if I didn't let her do what she wanted. I got changed into the dress as she braided the first strands of my hair and pulled it back in a ponytail in the back. The rest of my hair she braided down my back so I had three braids in all. She wanted 

to do more and add flowers but I had reached my limit and my family might be waiting for me. I walked away from her as she tried to talk me into doing more first but I just kept walking. I took a left from my door and walked until I reached the long staircase that led to the kitchen on the first floor. I walked down as quickly as I could not wanting anyone to wait and almost tripped on the heavy red carpet that lined the staircase. I got halfway down when I looked upon the large table in the center of the room. Caleb was the only one there!

"Am I really that late?" I looked around the room and stepped down on the rock floor. The shoes felt horrible on my feet since I usually always went barefoot. He turned his gaze from a window to my direction and a smile crossed his face.

"No actually you're the first one of your family here! Do they always take this long?"

I laughed and took a seat across the table from him. "Unfortunately only when there's company. Usually they take much longer!" He began to laugh too. _**I like his laugh, wow were did that come from? **_I stopped laughing shocked at the thought. _**Were had that come from? **_

"Ah there you are. Now we can start dinner!" I looked towards the staircase and saw my father and mother coming down the staircase, my fifteen year old brother right behind them. Kyan sat down next to Caleb and my father pulled out my mother's chair next to me for her before sitting down at the rightful head of the table. Then as if on cue ( which they might have been) servant ladies poured through the doors from the kitchen carrying big silver trays of food laying it carefully on the table among us. They pulled off the silver coverings and left us alone to dine. All my favorite foods were there. Vegetable soup, pheasant, bread, and my favorite, a new candy called chocolate. I loved chocolate the way it was sweet and rich! "Now let us all bow our heads and pray" I bowed my head as my father instructed and heard him pray in his deep, thoughtful voice. The voice I had always loved.

I was almost through with dinner when my mother said "Caleb have you thought very much of marriage? My daughter is about marrying age." My throat closed and I had to fight back a cough. Why was she always bringing that up? I told her I would get married when I found someone I loved. So what if I hadn't found love yet! If she wanted to be a true mother she would care about my happiness first wouldn't she?! My appetite was 

gone and I had to ask if I could be excused from the table. I got up from the table and ran up the rock staircase not caring what Caleb would think or what my mother would say later. I ran down the hall until I found the doorway to the outside patio. It was my favorite place to think in the whole castle.

My one place that I could be alone and just look up at the stars. I ran to the rail along the edge and hopped on the railing my legs dangled freely over the edge and I grabbed on tightly to the rail so I wouldn't fall. I looked up into the sky and saw the millions of stars twinkling down on me. The moon sparkled brightly a giant orb of light against the midnight black of the sky. Why did my step mother always have to ruin things? I heard footsteps behind me but didn't pay any attention to them. If it was my step mother then she would get the hint and just move on but these footsteps came closer. I looked over my shoulder and saw Caleb behind me. "Mind if I sit down?" I shrugged and looked back up at the stars wishing they would swoop down and take me up to the heavens with them. Oh how I wished! "Hey your mom didn't mean anything by it. My mom does it to me all the time! Even if I do tell her I will get married someday I just haven't met the right person yet!"

I looked at him and saw he was looking out at the stars, I could see the stars light twinkling in his sea blue eyes. Wait why did I even care about his eyes? I turned my head back to the sky confused. A cold wind blew and small little lumps crawled up my arms. My body shook from the cold trying to warm itself up. "I better head back in and get some sleep. Goodnight Caleb." I was thankful for the chance to get away as I tossed one leg off the rail and the other one quickly followed. I bent down to take off the horrible shoes and wondered why I hadn't done it earlier. The cold tiles felt good against my sore feet and I picked them up in my hand and walked off to my room.

The fire was crackling happily across the room sending shadows to and fro in time with the fires dance. I was tucked in my purple silk covers and laid on my back looking up at the ceiling red from the fires light. _**I wonder why he didn't just leave me to my fate. **_I rolled over in my bed and made my mind shut down. I closed my eyes and sleep consumed me.


	3. Never mess with a mad princess

Light from outside poured through my window and I opened my eyes reluctantly. I pushed the covers aside and changed into a plain red dress. Daleigh opened the door and walked up behind me setting me down by the window and combing my hair. I noticed she was still half asleep and smiled at her. Daleigh had never been a morning person. "Daleigh wake up!" Her head bolted up and she nearly dropped the comb. I broke out into peals of laughter and she looked at me annoyed. "Now we're even for yesterday!" A faint, tired smile crossed her lips but she still seemed a little asleep. I looked out the window leaving her to her daydreaming. Some knights were already up and sparing in the cool of the morning. A few caught me watching and put on a great show of their sword play but I recognized many of them from people I had beaten before and I had seen all their moves before.

I looked around and saw lads leading horses about to and from the stables to the riding arena where the knights could warm up their horses. There was one boy though who had a particularly wild horse and was barely managing to hold on! Suddenly a sense of panic over took me and I hopped up from my seat and began rushing down the hallway. My mother came out of another hallway and opened her mouth to speak but I walked past her rushing down the stairs. I turned and ran through the doors linking our dining room. I was practically running making sure to dodge lasses who were carrying dishes and ingredients about. I walked through the heavy wooden door and began running as quickly as I could to the place I had seen the lad with the horse.

My heart was pounding in my ears as I spotted him and saw what I had feared would happen, happening right before my eyes. The horse reared standing on two legs practically knocking the poor lad to the ground. The boy managed to stay upright but the reins had broken loose from his hands. The horse was moving about in obvious panic and I could tell from his eyes that at any sudden movements the horse would burst off. I took a few steps forward and called out "Don't move, I'll see if I can calm him down." The boy moved his head to look at me but didn't move and stood stock still. I took a few side steps towards the horse and all his attention turned to me. He looked at me with fearful eyes as I carefully and slowly approached. All my attention was on him, all the world had stopped around me and all sound was blocked from my ears. "It's alright. No one will hurt you on my watch." I spoke to him softly and he seemed to calm down. I reached up my hand and he flinched a little but stayed there. I grabbed the reins from his neck and put my hand to his neck. Rubbing it gently I 

whispered to him "See that wasn't so bad was it? There's a good boy." I rubbed his neck; the horse seemed to relax under my hand. I pulled my attention away from him and looked at the boy again "What made him panic so?" The lad had fear in his eyes matching the horses fear a while ago and I wondered if he was going to bolt at any sudden movements too.

The boy bent his head quickly making me suddenly suspicious. "His rider rode him pretty hard m 'lady. He's a strict man." I looked at the horse and now that I looked for it I could in fact see scars and small blood spots in the horses black coat. The poor creature!

"Do you know the name of the rider um…?" I tried to make my voice soft as I did with the horse so he would know he would be alright but I didn't know if it had any effect on him or not.

"My name is Bentley. The rider was Sir Alfred mam." I nodded. I had fought Sir Alfred before. He had a short temper but I didn't know he was still here. I thought he had left to go marry some girl in another kingdom or something.

"Thank you Bentley for your honesty and you don't have to call me mam or my lady. Just call me Sakira. My lady makes me seem too old don't you think?" Bentley's head jerked up and he looked at me with such shock I could practically feel it myself! He nodded his warily and then a giant smile formed.

I gave what I hoped to be a reassuring smile and asked, "Now tell me Bentley where is Sir Alfred." His smile faded and fear entered his eyes again. He glanced nervously in the direction of the sparing field and back at me. I felt my heart pounding again and I looked the boy over carefully. His arms and legs were covered completely even though it was warm outside and my heart skipped a beat. "Are you a servant to Sir Alfred? Has he beaten you?" I bent down so I was eye to eye with him and looked at him intently and he looked down to the ground again. I put my hand to his chin and lifted his face up. Tears streaked his dirty face and my heart broke. I wrapped him in a hug not caring who saw and held the poor child in my arms. "It's alright. I'll do everything I can to help you and any others out okay? Everything will be alright." I could feel him nodding his hand on my shoulder and I could feel his tears soaking through my shirt.

Then as soft as could be I could feel his arms wrap around me too and I just stood there hugging him. After a while he pushed away from me 

and wiped away the tears with his sleeve making his face dirt streaked. I laughed a little and wiped away the rest of the tears with my thumbs. "You can stay here or you can come with me. I'm going to have a talk with Sir Alfred!"

"I want to stay here and take care of bolt. Please ma… I mean Sakira?" I nodded my head and he turned back to the horse. He grabbed Bolts' reins and started leading him towards the stables. I watched them go for a while and then turned around fury in my gaze. That Alfred was going to get a piece of my mind! I stormed off towards the sparing field and many people scrambled to get out of my way.

No one wanted to mess with a mad princess. When I saw that red haired weasel below me sparing I had to stop from going up to him taking his sword and then whacking him with it. It took everything I had to call out "Sir Alfred I need to talk to you!" He stopped sparing and turned around seeing me. He smiled happily and walked up the hill to great me. He bowed lowly before me before saying "Yes Princess. What is it that you wish to say?"

I glared at him. All my anger cracked through my mask and it took the remaining amount of strength I had to not shout at him and smack him across the face! "It's about Bolt your horse and Bentley! Any other little 10 year old kids you've beaten up lately? Maybe a poor, defenseless horse?" My arms were across my chest and I tried to look as menacing as I possibly could. With all my anger at this wretched man it wasn't hard. His smile faded and he looked around. "I will do something about this don't worry. If you ever see the light of day again it will be too soon! I'll buy all your servants and horses from you now, OR I can take them all later when I find out how many you've abused!" The man had murder in his eyes but his eyes had no effect on me. He took one look at my eyes and all of the sudden his eyes turned from anger to a hurt puppy look, his tail tucked between his legs.

"I'll give you three hundred coins for all of those poor people and horses." He looked like he wanted to object but said nothing and nodded his head. I pulled my purse off from around my neck and threw it on the ground at his feet. "You get off easy today but if I don't see all your servants in two days and if any of them has even a single bruise I'll throw you in the dungeon for all eternity! Do I make myself clear?!" He nodded his head and I stormed away an evil smile on my face. He had gotten what 

he deserved for all those people he's hurt! I headed towards the stables when I felt something on my arm. If it was Alfred there wouldn't be anything holding me back from punching him! I turned around and saw Caleb there. A wave of relief coursed through me and I exhaled a deep breath.

"Wow! What was that about?" I told him the whole story beginning when I saw Bentley and the horse through my window. I saw anger swell in Caleb's eyes too and he looked back towards the sparing area many a time, throughout the story. "I knew he had a mean side time to time but I never would have guessed he would've gone so far as to hurt innocent people! He is so lucky it was you and not me! He would be in far worse condition if it had been!"

I nodded my head and turned to go towards the stable thinking Caleb would follow but he just stood there watching me leave. I stopped and looked at him over my shoulder. "You can come if you want too. I'm going to see Bentley and Bolt." I walked off and he ran to catch up with me.

"You're definitely determined aren't you?"

I smiled a little "You bet and stubborn too." He laughed and we walked along in silence for a while.

"That may be true but no one can say you don't care for people, and they can't say you aren't your own person." I smiled and for the first time today I felt actually kind of happy! He was as good as Daleigh! Before I knew it I could see the outline of the barn against the blue sky. I walked inside and the smell of horse manure/hay filled my lungs. I saw Bolt standing down in the back and Bentley was brushing him until his coat shined.

Bentley's back was turned and I came up behind him. "Bolt looks really beautiful. You're a really good stable hand!" Bentley turned around quickly but smiled when he saw it was me. He noticed Caleb beside me and looked warily over at him not sure yet if he was friend or foe. "Bentley your family will be coming soon and your friends too. All of Alfred's servants will be working for the royal family from now on. You know I would like to make Bolt my own horse. You think you could take care of him for me?"

"Of course Sakira! So my family is really coming here? Everyone?" I nodded my head and his smile seemed to light up the entire stable.

I laughed and ruffled his hair. "Okay make sure to take care of bolt for me. I hope you'll be happy here."

"I'm sure I will be. Thank you!" He smiled and then turned back to his work of Bolt. Bentley hummed as he worked now and any anger I had left vanished into nothingness. Knowing Bentley was happy I turned to leave a new little spring in my step.

"If I didn't see you yelling at Alfred myself I wouldn't believe there was a mean bone in your body, you know that?" I turned around and stuck out my tongue at him and then ran off towards the castle. "Hey get back here!" He took off after me and I ran faster. I ran towards the castle walls and was about to turn through a door, right when Daleigh was turning to go out. I ran right into her sending us both to the floor.

I lay on my back and sat up on my hands. I looked at her and we both started laughing as hard as we could. "Sakira I know you were mad about yesterday but do I deserve all of this?" She was laughing so hard it took me a little while to catch what she was saying.

Caleb ran up all of the sudden "What happened here, a train wreck?" I hit him in the leg and he laughed

"Not quite, just Sakira being her usual klutzy self!" Daleigh laughed out.

"Hey that's not fair! There's two of you and only one of me! I'm outnumbered! Now help me up!" He laughed and held out his hands for me and Daleigh. I looked at Daleigh and she winked. We both grabbed a hand and pulled him down to the ground. I laughed and hopped up to my feet and took off running again, Daleigh close behind laughing up a storm.

"We're as bad as children again, you know that?" I smiled and kept running that is until my mother stepped out in front of me. I slowed down and came to a stop a few feet in front of her. Daleigh tried to slow too, but bumped into me and I had to struggle to keep my balance. My mother's face was full of anger. I winced inwardly and knew I was going to get in so much trouble.


	4. Not him, her

"Were should I start Sakira? The part where you ran past me completely ignoring me, or the fact you're playing with a servant? Maybe we should start at where you missed breakfast? Explain yourself!"

Daleigh took a step back and hung her head low and I felt some anger boiling just below the surface. "Mother, let me start. I ran past you because there was horse that was panicked and I calmed him down before he took off and caused a lot of trouble. Not only that but I found out that Sir Alfred had been abusing the horse and many of his servants! I had to do something! That's why I missed breakfast! And Daleigh has a name! She's my friend and will always be no matter what you say! You can't say what I do! You're not my mother!" I could see shock on her face but she covered it up quickly. Caleb ran up and when he saw me and my step mother his smile quickly faded.

She looked past me to him and then back at me. "I'm disappointed in both of you! Sakira I guess I could of expected this from you but Caleb you should've talked some sense into the girl not the other way around! Your mother will hear of this that I promise you! As for you Sakira I am your mother now and that is that! I'll see you at lunch!" Her voice wasn't loud but it was a strong as steel, each word hurting more than the last. My mother turned and walked off with her normal regal authority. Ugh.

I turned towards Daleigh and put my arm around her "Daleigh don't listen to her. I'm your friend no matter what she says. Oh Daleigh don't cry." Salty tears ran down her cheeks. Oh Daleigh! What was with this crazy day? First fear, then sadness, then anger, then happiness, then anger, now more sadness! It was like this day had teenage hormones or something! And Caleb was just standing there not knowing whether to leave or stay! "Daleigh I know what will cheer you up! Caleb watch her for a moment, I have to go find something." I pulled my arm from her and I felt so bad for leaving her but I knew just the thing to cheer her up! I walked around the castle. There it was the thing I had been looking for. There was a small gap under the castle wall and I bent down into the darkness. My hand grabbed the smooth wooden bow and pulled into out into the light.

It was one of my brother's old bows that he had "outgrown" as he put it. I had saved it from a fiery death and had given it to Daleigh as a present. (She had always wanted to try archery but being a girl she couldn't ever get one) Its red cherry wooded frame glowed from the light. I smiled and reached back down again to retrieve the arrows. I put the arrow sling 

around my shoulder and ran back as fast as I could to find where I had left Daleigh and Caleb. There they were! Daleigh had stopped crying but her eyes were red and puffy from the tears. She was still miserable but this had to cheer her up! I took the arrows off my back. "Daleigh what's the one thing that cheers you up the most?" I handed the arrows and the bow to her and I saw the hint of a smile. "Now come on. We have to see if you can still hit a target!" She slung the arrows, and her bow around her shoulder and I grabbed her arm. "Come on Caleb!" I started running off Daleigh tugging Daleigh along behind me. I ran towards the forests edge right at the edge of the castles walls and ran along the small path. Trees flashed past me as we all ran along the trail and I remembered when I was a girl and my mother, my real mother took me along these very trails.

My mother took me all kinds of places and sometimes she took me out to see the villages in the kingdom. My step- mother wouldn't even let me leave the castle grounds. I pushed the memory out of my head. I didn't want any more sadness going around. We came to a green clearing with targets made from hay bales on the far side. I stopped and Daleigh pulled loose of my arm and ran up to get a good aim at the bales. She pulled the bow off her arm like and expert and loaded her bow. She pulled the string back and let the arrow fly through the air. It hit the target dead center and she smiled. "Yes!" She gave a triumphant laugh and loaded her bow once more.

"Wow, so we have one girl who can kick butt at sparing and her friend who can hit a bulls-eye from 50 feet away. No wonder you two are friends! Kira are there any more of your friends I should be worried about?"

I smiled at the wonderful opportunity he just opened up "Well there is one other friend I have. He's a prince though so you shouldn't have to worry too much. He beat me once at sparing but I let him win. If he found out he would be devastated!"

"Of course you did Kira maybe you would like to spare him again sometime and not let him win? That will prove I don't have anything to fear I mean." He gave me an evil, mischievous grin and I laughed.

"Sure you're on and this time I won't lose!"

"That will be a fight I can't miss! Guys you better let me watch!" Daleigh yelled over her shoulder. She let another arrow go and once again 

it zinged right to the center circle. She would be a fitting challenger for Robin Hood himself!

After she used up all her arrows a few times she went to retrieve them and then returned to Caleb and I. She was finally finished for the day. All of the sudden she gave me a big hug. A few hairs that had gotten loose were tickling my face and she was squeezing me really hard but I was glad she was happy again. She let go of me stepping away. "Thanks Sakira for cheering me up. No matter what you and me will stay friends right?"

"I wouldn't want it any other way. Now come on we better be heading back. My step-mom will kill me if we don't make it to lunch! And trust me dead people don't make good friends, good listeners but not good friends." We all walked through the woods to the castle.

We all walked up the stairs and me and Daleigh turned right, Caleb turned left "See you at lunch, bye Daleigh I'll see you later." He waved goodbye to us and turned into his room.

As soon as we were safe in my room Daleigh started cracking up. "What is up with you?!" I said looking at her.

"Oh nothing, nothing at all. Just the fact that he's a guy and you're actually getting along! I think someone has a little crush forming!" She started laughing again and I hit her in the arm with a pillow

"Hey I do not!" But unfortunately for me that just made her laugh harder. "Ugh. Daleigh be quite. I do not have a crush!"

"Fine whatever you say." She started messing with my hair but I could still hear her snicker sometimes. She was as bad as a kid sometimes! It took forever before everything was finished and I was appropriate by my step-mothers standards to come to lunch. Why did my step-mother put all these restrictions on me and expect me to be some brainless little puppet?! Whatever. I walked down the stairs and saw everyone was already down there. Uh-oh now I was going to get it. I walked quietly down the stairs and sat at my spot across from Caleb waiting for the lecture to come at any moment. But nothing. Maybe she doesn't want to lecture me in front of Caleb. Not that that had stopped her earlier this morning.

I dared take a look at her and noticed she seemed far away and something else. Was that fear in her eyes? No way! In all the years I've 

seen my step mother she had never even been remotely fearful except one time when I had "accidentally" let in a mouse that had happened to find its way to her room by chance when I was a kid. But even then she wouldn't ever show she was afraid in front of me and my brother, ever! Something was up and I wanted to know. Finally a time when all those diplomatic classes came in handy. "Mother I'm sorry for being late to lunch. Are you mad at me?" I said with as much precision as I could muster.

She blinked her eyes from their trance like state and looked over at me. "No dear it's alright, just don't do it again or no lunch for you."

"Mother are you alright? You seemed off in space earlier."

"Yes Sakira I just have a lot on my mind that's all" I could feel Caleb eyeing me suspiciously from across the table. I could tell he was wondering why I was being so princess like all of the sudden. By the way she said Sakira I knew the subject was closed. Thankfully my brother didn't know that yet.

"What is it mother, is everything alright?" My father cleared his throat and mother remained uncharacteristically silent. My suspicions were confirmed, something wasn't right.

All of the sudden my father spoke from the head of the table. "Well kids we didn't want to worry you but we saw an Algresion army in the kingdom. It's pretty close to here so I want all of you kids to stay inside the castle. They may be here to fight or they may just be passing through. We have an army getting ready for if the if the worst happens. I'm sorry Caleb but you'll have to stay here for the time being. We'll send a message to your parents and will try to get you home as quickly as we can but in the meantime we'll get you any new clothes or anything that you'll need or want to feel more at home here."

"Thank you sir, but if worst does come I would like to stay and fight." Everything went dead silent and everyone stared at him. He was willing to risk his life for our kingdom? I sighed and looked down at my plate of food. I would too if I could but I couldn't. My step mother would never stand it and she would watch me twenty-four/seven. I would never be able to sneak out again and even my sparing would become a thing of the past. Oh what I wouldn't give to be able to do what I loved freely! Caleb was so lucky.

"Caleb, the offer is appreciated, but are you sure would rather stay here and fight instead of being in your home safe?"

"Yes sir." He had so much confidence in his voice and I looked up at him again. There was a stubborn look in his eye and I could tell my father saw it too. There was no point in making arguing when all of us knew we would need all the help we could get if in fact they wanted to attack us. The Algresion army was the super power of the world. They were a ruthless people who conquered so many kingdoms. They were a serious threat but no one had the courage to stand up to them. Their army could easily beat many of the kingdoms. My great grandfather had once tried to unite the many of the kingdoms against the Algresion's but everyone was too afraid that even if they did unite it wouldn't be enough to defeat the ruthless super power.

My great grandfather was later killed by one of the Algresion spies and ever since then no one has dared even speak their name in fear that someone might be listening. When it came to them the walls had ears and the floors had eyes. My brother stood up knocking me to reality again. "I want to, too! And maybe we could find that knight with the cape. I saw him yesterday! He has to still be here! Dad that's it! We have to find that knight! He has only been beaten by Caleb, even I've lost to him once before!" Hey that wasn't true! I've beat my brother three times at least! Then the words sank in. They were going to look for the knight but they wouldn't find him they would find her.

"Yesterday you said? Well then he will have to be here. I ordered that no one leave the castle grounds two days ago. The knights still here somewhere so I'll send my guards to look for him if you're so sure." My brother smiled brightly while I began to panic. This was not good. I would have to change the subject but how? Oh-no! This was so not good! Not good at all!


	5. He knew

"Yes father that knight is one of the best fighters I've ever seen! He'll be excellent!" My father clapped his hands and a guard walked in.

"Sir have you heard of the knight that goes around wearing a black cape?" the guard nodded. "Excellent. I want to send out a proclamation that anyone who finds information on this knight will be rewarded a handsome reward. Do anything you need to just find this knight for us." The guard nodded and walked out of the room. I looked at Caleb and saw he was trying really hard not to look worried but I knew he was as worried as I was. "Sakira are you not feeling well? I'm sorry if this news of war is scaring you but everything would be alright. My generals insist it's a rather small army. They may just want to give us a scare. It will work out."

I nodded my head "Do you mind if I go lay down. I guess I don't feel very well." I hated sounding so helpless but I had to pretend to be this poor, innocent, little fawn of a girl. Hurl. But it was the only way for them to never suspect me. I mean what girl could be a fighter when she seemed to be this little angel?

"You know I'll walk her to her room to make sure everything was alright." I got up from the chair and tried to look as sick as I could. Caleb walked around the table and held out his had to "steady" me. I thought we pulled off a nice charade. I walked up the stairs and as soon as we were out of sight made a mad dash to the servant corridor. I knocked on Daleigh's door madly and practically fell in when she opened the door. I saw her small family gathered around the table and everyone stared at me.

I bowed low before them "Oh I'm so sorry I didn't mean to disturb you but do you think I could borrow Daleigh for a second. It's extremely urgent!" They nodded their heads flabbergasted. I ducked out of the room apologizing again. Daleigh gave me a weird look as I pulled her out the door.

"What's up? I've never seen you look like this before. What, has your step mother engaged you to Caleb?" she almost smirked at the comment when she saw Caleb standing by the wall. "Oh sorry Caleb no offense meant. She just… I'm just going to be quiet now."

He gave a slight smile "No offense taken." He stepped up to us and we formed a small circle.

"Daleigh there's a small Algresion's army nearby and my family wants to find the mysterious knight to fight in our army if the Algresion army was sent here to attack us!" Daleigh's eyes got as wide as a saucer.

"What are you going to do if anyone finds anything that could actually help find the knight?"

I sighed "I don't know! Oh man this isn't good! Please Daleigh say you have some idea! Anything!?" She shook her head. I put my hands to my head and began to pace back and forth. All of the sudden a young man ran up to us.

"Princess! Princess Sakira! Someone has claimed that the knight has brown hair. Your father says he wants everyone in the kingdom to line up that has brown hair and that includes you!" Oh no how had the knight sent word to everyone already? I tried to walk calmly but I probably failed miserably. Crap! I walked along the corridors until we reached the ball room. I looked back at Daleigh and Caleb who had followed me. We were about to walk through the open doors to the ballroom when the man turned around. "I'm sorry but mam you can't go through. Only people who have seen the knight are allowed through to say their part."

"But I have seen the knight! I went to most of his spares! They were incredible. And plus why must the princess go? She's a girl!" the man stared at her judging to see if there was any hint of a lie about her.

"It's true I saw her when I fought the knight." Caleb said trying everything to get Daleigh through too. I would need both of them to help me out of this one. Right now I was a ball of nerves about to go haywire at any movement.

"Fine you both can go. Come on." We walked through the door and I was planning on whether I should run or stay. If I ran I would automatically become suspicious, making me a suspect no matter whether or not I was a girl. Inside were a group of many knights crowded on one half and many brunettes lined in a shoulder to shoulder line on the other half. I was headed to death row as I walked towards the line and my friends the other. The line of brunettes opened a spot for me and the people on the other side stared at me weirdly. They probably wondered why the princess was being suspected. All of the sudden my father walked in, his head held high. He clapped his hands and every noise in the building stopped.

"Okay now everyone. We're here to find our mysterious knight. So let's start with my son first." My brother stepped out of the jumbled mess of knights and tried to stand as tall as he could. He put on as much airs as my step mother! "Son do you remember anything that would help us identify the knight?" I hopped my cape had hid as much as I thought it did. Someone had seen what color my hair was but there were a lot of brunettes in the castle.

"I know the knight was taller than me but other than that he was pretty well hidden by the cape." My father clapped his hands and servants wriggled through line of brunettes pulling out anyone who appeared taller than my brother. I was left standing in the line. That kept going on and on until all who was left was Caleb and Daleigh. There were only about 20 people left and I was the only girl. This wasn't looking up for me.

Caleb was called up. "So Caleb you were the only one to beat this knight right?" Caleb nodded his head and looked at me nervously before looking back at my father. "Well son, what do you remember about this knight?" I didn't know if it was my imagination but I thought I could hear him gulp.

"Uh I just remember that he was shorter than me." I looked around at the line of men and saw only that all but one was shorter than him. The man was promptly removed from the line. I looked around. It was up to Daleigh. Oh why had she come? I mean I wanted her there but what if she said something that pointed me out? Caleb was about to move from the small pile of people left to those who had already said his part when my father put out his hand.

"Wait there's one last thing I want you to do. I want you to fight the remaining people." I hopped I was just imagining that my mouth was hanging open. Surely he realized I was there. Had he suspected me all along and just wanted to prove his suspicions? I glanced nervously around and saw many of the remaining men were looking back at me and then to Caleb. They were clearly stunned that my father had suggested it too.

"Sir surely you realize your daughter is one of the people remaining. Surely you don't wish me to fight her!" I could tell Caleb was really freaking out. It took a sigh of relief though. All I had to do now was stink. Act like I had never held a sword before and all of this would blow over. Caleb wouldn't have to try either and I could walk out of this completely unscathed.

"Caleb not only do I want you to fight my daughter but I want you to fight exactly as hard as you did for the knight." Everyone's mouth dropped open at the same time. This wasn't going to be easy any more. When I entered a fight instincts kicked in. And my instincts told me to not get hit. If Caleb was trying as hard as he did with me that one day I would dodge no matter what my brain told my body. It was all over. "In fact I want my daughter to go first." He knew. That was obvious. There was no way he couldn't know. Why was he making me suffer so?!


	6. A new plan, a new danger

"Sir surely you don't want me to do this! She's just a girl. What man would hit a woman? Plus she doesn't even have a sword!" My father clapped his hands never taking his gaze away from me. I tried to look fearful which was really easy since I was already past freaking out. I looked towards Daleigh and saw she was biting her fingernails to the nub. Crap! Crap! Crap! This was the worst day of my life. Two servants walked in carrying to gleaming swords. One walked to Caleb and he picked it up from the servant's hands uncertain about what to do. The other walked to me and I held it in my hand clumsily. I would try my hardest to stink. One thing not many people can say they try to do. I held it loosely in my hand and tried to look like it was heavy in my hand. I heard my father sigh and I looked over at him. Just then Caleb made a move. I quickly stepped sideways, making sure to drop my sword on the way. Several knights snickered behind their hands and tried to disguise it as a cough. Caleb picked up the sword. "Okay I win can we move on now?"

My father shook his head "No. Give the sword back to her and try again." He moved his gaze from Caleb to me "Sakira try you're hardest. My daughter can do better than that." He was telling me I would be his daughter no matter what and he would let me fight if I wanted too. Tears formed at my eyes but I pushed them back. I smiled as Caleb handed back my sword and held it rightly in my hand. Caleb noticed and gave me an uncertain smile.

"You ready Kira?" I nodded and he smiled. He slashed his sword at my feet and I did a back flip. I could feel a hundred mouths drop open at the same time. I smiled and swung my sword at Caleb's right shoulder. He held up his sword quickly blocking my blow. As he held off my sword I raised my leg kicking him right in the gut. I caught him off guard and he fell to the ground. He hopped to his feet and I stepped back so he didn't run into me. We stood there for a moment watching each other, planning our next move in our heads. After a while I ran forward and jumped up in the air my leg out before me. He ducked down low and I jumped over him. We were back to back now. The worst place for anyone to be. You wanted to be able to see your opponent at all times. He flipped backwards right over my head and landed right in front of me. He landed and swung his foot around low knocking me off my balance.

I fell down on my stomach and hopped on my hands. I pushed off the ground putting my momentum into my swing. I hit him hard in the back of the knee and he fell to the ground. His hand loosened on his sword and I 

used that time to flip over him pulling the sword out of his hands as I did it. A cheer went up from all the stand-byers and I looked around forgetting they were there. Caleb slowly got his feet. I could tell he felt as sore as I did right then. Bruises from all the blows he dealt me were already forming on my arms and my muscles were starting to get tight but I ignored all of it. He got up and I smiled at him. "Ow. I guess you were right when you said I didn't have anything to worry about that prince. You won." He started rubbing his shoulder wincing when he hit a sore area.

"I may have won but you still might want to fear the prince. He almost won. If I wasn't so stubborn he could've!" He smiled a little. Many of the people around us were staring with a mix of wonder and confusion.

He laughed through the pain. "Is that it? Well then I guess the prince will have to be a little more stubborn next time too." I laughed and looked back at my father. He was beaming with pride. He didn't care if I was a girl or not.

I walked up to him and he patted me on the shoulder. I hide a wince as the pain waved through me. "Dad if I could I want to join the army too. I know I may be a girl but you saw yourself I can fight as well as any man! Please dad I know I can do it!"

"Okay."

"Dad I know… wait did you just say okay? I can! Oh thank you dad!" I turned towards Daleigh and gave her a big hug. Today wasn't so bad after all.

"Norman! Norman how could you let our daughter fight! Look at the poor child" My step mother burst through the wide mahogany doors and rushed to me. "Oh it's alright baby. Shame on you Caleb. Look how you've hurt my daughter! Tell me at once who gave you those bruises so I can award him. Oh how could you hurt my daughter?" She wrapped me in a tight hug and my bruises felt like they were on fire but I couldn't get her off. Caleb started laughing along with my father and Daleigh. "What's so funny?" She looked from face to face obviously missing something.

"Your majesty your daughter was the one who gave me these bruises. She beat me in the spare. Trust me; she gave me plenty of bruises in return." My step mother stepped away from me looking at me with shock.

"Is that true? You're the mysterious knight that beat all those men?" I nodded my head wondering what her reaction would be. I didn't have to wait long. She fell to the ground with a thump. She had passed out!

I was with Caleb and Daleigh looking out through a window in the ballroom. My bruises had gotten worse from the fight the day before but I had grown famous over night too. Whenever anyone saw me in the hall they always bowed lower then they had before when I was just a princess. Many a time lads followed me about a while until their mothers called them away and scolded them for annoying me. Then they sent them over to apologize and I always smiled at them saying it was alright. They often ran off to a group of friends talking with such gusto I laughed. For the first time today I was alone with my friends. "That was amazing! You two were just going at it like the whole world would crash and burn if you didn't! It was amazing!"

I laughed "Daleigh I know. I was there remember?" All of the sudden Bentley came running up to me. His face was blood red and I stood up worried. "Bentley what's wrong?"

Bentley took a deep breath and started. "Princess the King wanted me to find you. The small Algresion army, its right outside the walls of our village! Their preparing for war! Caleb and you have to get ready. The king wants you to command a squad!" A squad! I didn't know anything about running a squad! What was a going to do; I mean I've always been the solo type. I looked at Caleb nervously. "Come on the king is going to meet you in the armor room! Follow me!" He ran off and Caleb ran off after him. I stopped for a second and said "Daleigh I have to go. You need to warn your family! Get everything ready that you might need and be ready for it they decide to put everyone in the safe room. Go!" She ran off down the hall and I took off in the opposite direction.

I met up with Caleb and my father in the armory. They were being outfitted in armor and I looked at the heavy metal cage. There was no way anyone could fight in that! No way! A servant started measuring me but I pulled away. I walked up to my father. "Dad there is no way I can fight in that armor. There has to be something else!"

"I'm sorry Sakira but we don't have anything light weight. If you have anything light weight then wear it but other than that…" He was going to say something else but I was out the door and heading for Daleigh's home. I knocked on the door and I remembered how I had done this same exact 

thing just the other day. Daleigh opened the door and let me in. Her family was scrambling through the rooms in her small house picking up anything important.

"Daleigh I need my cape. You left it in your purse!" She rushed to her room and came out with her purse. She opened it up and pulled out the familiar black cape. I took it gently from her hands and tied it around my neck once again.

I looked up at her and noticed she was crying. She wrapped her arms around me and whispered "Be safe Sakira and don't do anything stupid. If you get killed I'm going to have to bring you back to life just to kill you again. Got it?" I smiled and nodded in on her shoulder. She pushed away from me and I could feel hot tears stinging my eyes too. Her green eyes stared into mine and she said "Okay then now go. They need you." With that she pushed me out the door. She gave me one last hug and then shut the door behind her. I wiped the tears away from my eyes and hurried back to the armory. My father and Caleb were waiting for me. They were already dressed in their armor and when they noticed me I knew I was in hot water.

"No! No! No! No! No!" My father was about to go ballistic. I could feel Caleb seething but he remained silent.

"Dad you said it yourself if I had something lighter I could wear it! This is lighter."

"It's to light! You would have no protection what so ever! A sword would be able to cut through that as easy as a person could blink."

"Dad whoever said I was going to fight in this?"

They looked at me baffled. "So what are you going to do in it Kira?" I smiled at Caleb.

"Okay I have this crazy plan. The Algerians will never suspect you to have a girl in your army. All I need to do is sneak into their camp with some poison. Put some of it in their food, maybe some water, a lot in the wine and the soldiers are sick for weeks. It wouldn't work as well if it was a large army but if it really is small like you say it should take out a lot. If I wear this they should never suspect a thing! I'll be fine just as long as I don't get caught." I mumbled the last part but my father still heard.

"Sakira it's a good plan but I'm not going to risk my daughter to do it. We'll use one of the men willing to do it."

"Dad they'll be suspicious if it's a man! They'll check him out. They'll find the poison and he'll never come back to his family. I don't feel like risking someone's life that has a family and kids to come back too. If I do get caught, which I won't then at least I won't leave a wife and kids alone in the world. You know how hard it is for a widow to make money! I don't want that on my conscience!"

My dad sighed and I could tell he was edging towards my side and he hated it. I had reasoning I knew he couldn't turn down. "Fine Sakira. You're too smart for your own good you know that right?" I smiled and nodded. "So where do you plan to get this poison from?"

"I already have it. I'm going to pose as a cook for the camp. I'll put the poison in the food whenever I can without making them suspicious of me. I'll try to pass along a message every so often but I'm going to have to stay there for a while. Plus I can't die. Because then Daleigh's going to bring me back to life just to kill me again. So no worries." I threw in Daleigh's joke to lighten the mood but I could tell my father was trying to find any argument he could but failing. I looked over at Caleb. He had remained silent the entire time. What was he thinking about? He had a way of hiding what he was feeling when he wanted too and it drove me crazy. "What do you think Caleb?" I hated to admit it but I wanted his opinion the most right now. He shrugged and walked off to go do something. I sighed, he was definitely mad at me. He didn't like the plan but it was the best way! By doing this I could save hundreds of lives!

Including some of theirs! The poison would make them sick not kill them. Those that would normally fight and might get killed would be sick and in the nurse. They would be sick during the war sure but they would see their families again the same as the men who might get killed by their men. It was the best way to save hundreds of thousands of lives! Even if it did risk one, what was one life compared to that even if it was a princess. A princess was just a person. "Dad I will need a weapon though. You know just in case I get caught."

He gave a weak smile. "Of course, of course." He handed me a dagger that I could easily hid under my cloak. I heard the sadness in his voice and began to question my decision. No! I had to be firm. I slipped the 

dagger on my belt, right beside the bottle holding the red liquid that could win our war.

"I leave first thing tomorrow morning then." He nodded sadly .I wished Caleb would come back. His opinion meant a lot to me. I looked around for him but it appeared he had snuck out somewhere.

Our base camp was running along the wall right outside the village. Every where men where hustling about. The entire camp was a river of activity and noise. Some knights were practicing their sword play while others were brushing their horses or yelling out commands. I stepped into my tent for the night. It was a large circular shape with a cot in the rear and one off the right side. The one on the right would be mine. The one behind belonged to Caleb. Caleb was sitting on the bunk staring down at the ground. He hasn't said a word since that morning. I wanted him to say something but I didn't know how to break the awkward silence.

"Okay Caleb tell me. What's going on with you? Is this about the mission I'm going on?" He didn't say a word but now his silence answered the question. I bent down on the ground before him. "Caleb the only reason I'm going is to save all those lives. I've told you about that! Caleb come here." I grabbed his arm and he followed me reluctantly. I pulled him through the flap into the sunlight. You could practically smell the tension in the air. A knight walked by and I stopped him. "Excuse me sir. I know this is none of my business really but are you married?" The guy nodded eyeing me suspiciously. I felt completely ridiculous but I had to make a point. "Any kids?"

The guy smiled a little as he seemed to remember something and he nodded his head. "I got four."

"Thank you." He walked off and looked back at me weirdly but I ignored it. I turned back to Caleb. "Four kids and a wife. Now tell me. What if that guy gets hurt or killed in this war? How will a single mother find enough money to feed four children, possibly a husband, herself, and anyone else in their family? Now what if I put this poison in the enemy's food and that guy is saved? Along with countless other men? I'm not just saving these men when I do this. I'll be affecting the lives of their families too. I could keep thousands of people from starving to death just because their husbands or brothers or friends die! Please Caleb try to understand why I'm doing this!"

He shook my hand of his arm and I felt miserable. He was the only friend I had now that Daleigh was gone. "I understand why you're doing it but does it have to be you? Why can't someone else do it?"

"Different reasons. One I want to do it. Two it has to be a girl or the soldiers will get suspicious. And three I'm the only girl in this entire camp!" Yeah that's right I was in a camp completely surrounded by men and boys.

"How do you know they won't get suspicious of you? Especially since you're the only girl!"

"Because who would be suspicious of these pretty, innocent face?" I gave him the most angelic look I could and I could see him fighting a smile.

He had no argument left and he knew it. "Your dad was right. You are too smart for your own good. You can beat men in sparing and in arguing a point. I feel sorry for the poor man who does marry you!"

"Uh! That's mean!" I punched him in the arm and he laughed at me! Why were we friends?

I left early the next morning. A scout had said the army was just a mile or two out to the north so I had packed a small knapsack of food and supplies. No one was up yet except Caleb, my father and me. I hugged my father and he whispered in my ear "Be safe love." I stepped away and looked at Caleb. He looked like he wanted to give me a hug goodbye to but didn't know if he should. I wrapped my arms around him and he kind of stiffened at it but then relaxed and put his arms around me too. I stepped away once again and turned to leave. I wrapped my cape tight around me and I could see my breath on the air. I walked out just as the sun rose up from the cold ground.

I got to the enemy camp early in the morning right when the soldiers were waking up. I didn't know what to do so I decided to just wait at the edge of the camp until someone noticed the poor girl with the torn and dirty outfit. (I had made sure to make my outfit look tattered before I got here. I thought it added a nice touch.) It didn't take long. "Who are you?" I turned around and saw a tall man looking at me. His voice wasn't harsh as I thought it would be. And he looked perfectly normal! I had thought that the Algresion's were horrible mean looking people but he seemed actually nice.

"Uh I came from far away looking for a job. I wanted to be a cook but so far I've not had any luck." I changed my accent to the one I heard the cook use at home. I think it was Chuan or something like that.

He smiled a little "A pretty girl like you wants to be a cook huh? Well I wouldn't mind. You have to be able to cook better then the chef we have now. You can talk to my father, the general about it." The general's son! I had just met the general's son?! "Come on I'll lead the way. No need to be worried. He can seem pretty harsh sometimes but he's a softy at heart." I followed him in front of a large tent in what seemed to be the heart of the camp. My heart beat like a drum and considered it a miracle the guy hadn't heard. He led me inside and I saw that it was practically empty except for a large, wooden desk in the center of the room.

A strong built man sat behind the desk concentrating on the paper before him. He looked up as we walked in and smiled a fatherly smile at me. "Ah, hello." He stood up from the desk and bowed low before me. I curtsied back and gave him a small smile. "So mam what is your name." A name! I hadn't thought of that. I wouldn't want to use my real one because they might have heard of me!

"It's Kira sir." Kira?! That was the most creative thing I could come up with?! I expected the general to clap his hands and soldiers to pour in taking me hostage in an instant but he did no such thing.

"Oh Kira is it? Well I'm General Lee and this is my son, Evan. So what is it that brought you to this camp?" I began to panic not wanting to say the wrong thing. I began to feel bad about what I was about to do and I had to force myself to remember that I would in fact be saving their lives too. Plus if they knew who I truly was they wouldn't be so nice to me.

"Dad she wants to be a cook. I was wondering if she could get a job here." He put his hand to his chin thinking on something.

"Your accent is Chuan right? You born there?" I shook my head. I knew he was asking a trick question, testing me. Chuan's people were all blondes and I was a brunette; he was testing me.

"I wasn't born there sir but I did grow up there. That's where I picked up the accent." He nodded his head approvingly. Evidently I had passed the test.

"Okay you have the job. I don't know if my son mentioned this but the cook we have now is horrible. You couldn't possibly cook much worse than him. He'll love that he has a replacement. Wanted to be a soldier not a cook, thanks to you he can finally do that. You start immediately if that's alright with you." I nodded eagerly. This was actually working! I nearly laughed with relief. "We have more people then tents so you're going to have to bunk with someone with an empty bunk. I'm sorry but we don't have any other girl's looks like you're going to have to bunk with a boy." A boy?! I was alright with sleeping in the same tent as Caleb just because we were close friends but with a complete stranger? I fought off a shiver.

"Dad she can have my tent. I'll go sleep in a friend's tent."

I shook my head "I don't want to put anyone out. Don't worry I can handle my own." They both looked at me shocked and I realized my mistake at once. My stupid big mouth! Any regular girl would've gladly accepted. Not to mention girls weren't supposed to know how to hold their own! STUPID! STUPID! STUPID ME!

"You can fight?" I sighed. There was no lying my way out of it now.


	7. Life in camp

"Yeah hand to hand and with a sword." I thought their mouths were going to fall off. They looked like fish and I laughed behind my hand.

Evan looked at his father and his father nodded. "You mind showing us?" I shook my head. This might actually be fun. A new challenger and he was from one of the strongest countries in the world! Evan left for a moment and came back carrying two swords. I ran my hand along the side and felt they had been dulled so much I doubted it could even cut paper! I nearly laughed. He thought he I was lying and wanted to take it easy on me! I would show him!

"Where at?" He moved his hand in a follow me gesture and I walked out into the new rising sun. We walked to a large clearing and saw that many knights were already there doing numerous things. Some were just lounging about. Others were sparing while some were just exercising. When they saw me though everything stopped. All faces were on me and Evan. I moved the sword in my hand getting used to the feel of it. "What are the rules? I've never spared with Algresion rules before."

"Well have you heard of the Kyden rules? Ours are exactly the same." Kyden that was our kingdom! They spared with the same rules?!

"Yeah I've heard of the Kyden rules. Let's get started then." I smiled inwardly. He had just made this so much easier for me too. The battle started when he ran quickly at me ducking low and aiming for my feet.

I jumped up and jumped on his back then on to the ground again. He fell to the ground behind me but hopped up to his feet. He smiled "Your good, so now I don't have to take it easy on you."

I smiled too "Bring it on." He charge forward and started slashing his sword so quickly I struggled to keep up. He just kept coming though and he didn't seem to be tiring. He swung high and I dropped to the ground and did a low round the house kick. He lost his footing a once again was on the ground. His sword was on the ground beside him and I put my foot under it and tossed it into the air. I grabbed it with my other hand midair.

I dropped his sword and put my hand out. To my surprise he took it and lifted himself up. His breathing was uneven and I could tell instantly that last kick had knocked the air out of him. He wasn't nearly as good as Caleb was "You are good. If you weren't a girl we wouldn't dare use you as a cook no matter how horrible the food was." I could feel anger rising up in 

me. Talk about sexist! He was worse than my step mother! I pushed it down though reminding myself it was for the best. "Well I believe you can handle your own now but you can still use my tent. You're a lady and deserve some privacy." More again with sexist comments! This was going to be a long time here. I was just going to have to deal.

"Thank you that's really sweet. I have just one more question. Were exactly do I cook at?"

He laughed "You get right down to business don't you? Here come on. If we're lucky Nick hasn't started breakfast yet!"

The kitchen was just a plain brown tent with large wooden benches and tables. The kitchen was off to the left and included a range, pots and pans, a couples buckets of water and some make-shift drawers for spices and seasonings. My mind went back to when I was younger. I would often travel to the kitchen and I went so often Marge one of the cooks finally taught me to cook. She had always said I was a sponge when it came to learning and said I would've made a nice cook if I wasn't a princess. "So who is this pretty little girl Evan?" I looked at the dirty looking man before me and felt disgusted. And why was everyone calling me pretty. These guys needed to add some more words to their vocabulary!

Not to mention this grubby man was the person who was serving food? He looked like he hadn't had a bath in weeks! Not to mention he was treating me like a horse he could just off and buy! "My name is Kira!" I added a steely tone to my accent and I saw him shrink back, shocked that I would talk to him like that.

I was about to give him a piece of my mind when all of the sudden Evan stepped in. "Hey Nick I wouldn't mess with her. One she could kick your butt and two she's volunteering to be your replacement! If you get her too mad she can just leave and you'll be stuck as the cook."

The guy looked from me to Evan and then shrugged trying to act like he didn't care, but I could tell he did. "Looks like Evan has a crush on the cook." As he turned a walked off.

Evan shook his head. "Sorry about that. The rest of the men are usually better. A lot of them have kids themselves and will like having you around. Not that you're a kid or anything uh."

I laughed "I understand." And I did too. My father was always so much more protective of me then he had been with my brother even though I was older. I guess it was just a father thing to make girls their precious little baby even when we were no longer little.

"Well it looks like Nick has already cooked breakfast so we're out of luck there but at least we'll be able to hold down lunch." He smiled at me and I could feel my cheeks blush. No guy had ever complimented me except Caleb but Caleb was usually just teasing me. "Well until then I can show you to some of my friends. Here's one now! Tye! Tye come over here!" A guy with brown curly hair and a mustache came walking over. He seemed to in his early 20's. He smiled at me and bowed low. I curtsied and smiled at him. "Tye this is Kira. Kira this is Tye."

"Nice to meet you Kira. You the new cook around here?" I nodded. "Well then I owe you because that food Nick was cooking was starting to get to me. Hopefully you can cook better than him. But for now I would get ready because the usual crowd comes soon. Let me tell you 200 hungry guys aren't a pretty sight. If any of the boys give you any trouble let me know. I'll put them in their place. I have a two year old daughter and let me tell you she has me wrapped around her little finger. I miss her a lot so don't be to mad at me if I start acting like a father."

He winked at me and I smiled "No problem, I miss my father too, so I won't mind."

"That's the best news I heard all day." He smiled and walked away. I liked him. He had an honest air about him and he was friendly too. I could tell I would be hanging around him a lot.

I head towards the little kitchen and looked around for the food. "It's in the stove keepin' warm." I looked at Nick. "Kira I'm sorry for the way I acted before."

"It's alright." He turned to leave and I opened the door to the stove. Inside was a big cauldron of some goopy mush stuff. No wonder these men were so upset! I looked around and realized this would be the perfect opportunity for the poison. No one would suspect anything. I looked around and saw no one looking so I took the red bottle from inside my cloak. I poured some into the food and got a wooden spoon to stir it in. I took it out and set it on the table making sure it didn't look tampered with. With all that mess in there it looked like something from a nightmare.

I bet not even Nick could guess what was in there. I put a ladle in the mush stuff and waited for the poor victims who were going to have to eat this stuff. I didn't think I even needed to add the poison to this concoction to make the soldiers sick but who knew, maybe their stomachs had somewhat gotten used to the food? Just then men of all sorts poured through the flap. They headed towards the kitchen and when they saw me I could see hope fill their faces. The first guy asked "Mam did you cook the food?"

I shook my head "No not breakfast but I'll cook the food from now on."

I could see disappointment on the all the guys faces "Well at least the rest of our food will be edible from now on." I looked at these guys. Did they think that just because I was a girl I could cook? Well if I haven't done anything else on this mission I found out these guys were on the most part, sexist pigs. Ugh. I served all the guys that came counting them to see how many people on this side I could've just saved. 150 had eaten breakfast but that didn't quite mean anything. Some of the people could have immunity against the poison. Or the amount of the poison they ate wasn't enough to make them sick. It didn't matter, only about 60 or so would actually get sick.

That was the reason I had to stay here so long. I sighed, I hated to admit it but I wanted to see Daleigh, Caleb, my father, and even my brother. I waited a while longer and when I was sure no one else was coming. I walked out the tent and sat down on a log. I had asked why there were so few men at breakfast and a guy said there were a total of five different kitchens around the camp. It just turned out that there were only four cooks so they had to use a sub. That sub had been Nick. I sighed. There were going to be twice as many men for the lunch break. I would have help and there were going to put in an extra stove but still 300 men. That was so many! I put my knees to my chest and put my head on my knees. I was exhausted! "Hey you alright?" I looked up and saw Evan looking down at me.

"Yeah I'm fine just tired. I had a long morning." He smiled sympathetically and sat down on a stump beside me.

"Well all your stuff has been moved to the tent so you can take a nap. You have plenty of time. Plus some of the men want to spare you because they saw you spare me earlier. You're looking at the clown of the day. That is until you beat everyone else in this camp."

"You sound so sure I'll win."

"I know you'll win. You're the best fighter I've ever seen! My father was strongly considering putting you in uniform! But for now just get some sleep. Don't wear yourself out." I nodded and got up. I brushed my hands on my skirt and walked towards the tent Evan had let me have. I was about to duck through the flap into the tent when a man came running towards me.

He came close and whispered "Princess Sakira I have a note from your father. Don't worry I'm a spy your father sent. I'll see you tomorrow to pick up a return message." I nodded shocked too much to speak. My father had sent spies?!

"How did you get in?"

"If you're a soldier then you can fit right in with no one taking a second look at you. For your job though someone would pay attention so be careful and never let down your guard." He put a piece of paper in my hand and turned and walked off. I watched him go and then slipped into my tent. I unrolled the parchment and a second piece of paper slipped out. I picked it up and sat down on my bunk. The one that fell was from Caleb. I put it down for now and read the one from my father first.

_Dear Sakira. _

_As you know I have spies in the camp and have ordered them to keep an eye on you. It's not that I don't trust you Sakira I'm just a worried father. Please be safe my dear and write back to me as soon as your able. I'm sure your mother will kill me for letting you go but she'll have to get over it. There was no way I could talk you out of it and you did make quite a point. You'll be a great queen someday. It seems Caleb is quite the leader. Not a single one of his men were hurt. They were barely wounded. He wrote you a letter to if you haven't received it yet. Be safe my dear. _

_Your Father. _

I smiled. That was my father being protective as always. I regretted what I had to do next but I knew it was what my father would want. I tore the note up into the smallest pieces I could. No one could find this note or I would be dead in a second. I hid the pieces in my knapsack and moved onto Caleb's letter

_Dear Kira_

_Hopefully for those poor men you can cook as well as you fight. If not then I doubt you'll even need that potion to make those men sick for weeks. Daleigh snuck out to see you and is now going to kill you when you get back she says. Something about her telling you not to do something stupid and then you go and do something stupid. Just thought I would give you a heads up. Maybe you could run off with the Algresion's. I'm sure you fight as well as one. Just don't join the army because then I would lose in front of my troops. Try to keep me informed. I want to know how bad your cooking is if I ever travel somewhere with you. Oh by the way your dad is seriously considering making you a knight. So we might be traveling together someday. It would be better to be on your team then on the receiving end. I got to go keep Daleigh from stomping over there and killing you now. You might want to hide for the next couple of days._

_Your friend Caleb_

I laughed, Caleb was joking just as much as before. He always knew the right thing to say to cheer me up. I heard a voice outside my tent and hurriedly pushed the note under the bed. I lay down and pretended to close my eyes. The voices past and my heart slowed down. That was to close. _**Never let your guard down.**_ I remembered the spy's warning from earlier. I turned over on my back looking at the plain brown top of the tent. My eyes felt heavy and I finally slipped to sleep.


	8. kidnapping and more marriage, ugh

There was a rustling of the tent flap and sat up startled at the noise. Evan put his hands in the air "Sorry didn't mean to scare you. My dad sent me to wake you. Everything alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine. A little tired still but fine" I sat at the edge of my cot rubbing my eyes. I looked down at my outfit and wished I had brought other outfits. I hadn't really thought of that.

"Oh right, my father gave me some clothes for you. They're men's clothes but they should fit. We weren't planning on you to come." He pulled a sack that he had put under his cloak and tossed it to me. I caught it and opened it up. Inside was a simple red shirt, some baggy black pants and a small gold purse. I looked up at him and he took the hint, leaving. I pulled out the outfit examining it in the light. It was plain but it was better than what I was wearing now. I quickly changed outfits and rushed to the kitchen. I was going to need a lot of time to prepare for lunch. I had no clue what they had for me to use or even what I was going to make. I rushed through the tent and saw a few men in the corner talking and laughing. I rushed to kitchen and saw some men bustling about already. I tied an apron around me and began looking around at what they had. I found the spice cabinet but where in the world was all the food?

"Excuse me but where is the flour and actual food?" I stopped a man who was getting everything set up and ready for cooking.

"Oh the food that's in a cellar out back. It used to be a dried up well but we filled it up and put we're using it as a makeshift food cellar." I looked walked out the tent confused. When had there been a well out here? I thought all the wells were out in town not out here. I walked to the back of the tent and looked around. Sure enough there was a small circular break wall with a ladder pushing out of the top. I walked over and looked down. I couldn't even see the bottom it was so dark! It was small too.

About five by five feet. Not a good place to go if you were claustrophobic. I looked down again and held my breath. I think I just became claustrophobic. I took a deep breath and put my foot on the ladder. I swung over and started climbing down, slowly, very slowly. My heart was pounding. There was no way I was going to be able to do this for more than two days. This was torture! I looked down and thought I was staring straight into a hole that went on forever. After what seemed an eternity my feet finally touched solid ground. A flaming torch hung from a wall and I grabbed it quickly. I held the light around and noticed that the water that 

had once been here had emptied out a chamber of hollow earth. The cavern was twice as big as me and three times as wide but still that only increased my fears. I had to be so far underground!

Not a better option in my book. I noticed small shelves built into the walls of the cave and it was lined with food. I grabbed what I was nearby when a new dilemma crossed my mind. How in the world was I to get the food up to the surface? There was no way I could carry it all and be able to climb the ladder. I began to panic. "Sakira there's a bucket at the end of the cavern. Put the food into it and I'll pull it up. You just climb up!" The voice echoed around me and I nearly had a heart attack. If I didn't die done here I was going to kill Evan, he was as bad as Daleigh! Note to self: Never get these two together in a dark room. I'll be dead shocked to death before the end of the day! I looked towards the back of the tunnel. Why did it have to be in the back? The sooner I got out of here the better. The cavern had an ominous feeling to it. I gathered the food into my shirt and walk/ran to the back of the cave.

I found the bucket and dropped the food from my shirt to the bucket. I gave the rope a quick tug and watched as the bucket rose up through a small hole in the ground. I looked back around at my surroundings. Small torches lit the wall but that made the whole cave look more menacing. I made a mad dash to the ladder and climbed up as fast as my arms would take me. This was going to be a very long time here. Especially if I had to go back down in that cave again.

I climbed and climbed until finally light peeped through the hole allowing me to see once again. When I got out I was never so glad to see the sun in my entire life! "What's wrong with you? You look like you've seen a ghost. No you look like a ghost. Is a girl who can fight like you afraid of the dark?"

I gave him my evilest glare. I so wasn't in the mood right now for him teasing me. "Just give me the food. I'm not in the mood." He looked shocked but handed the food to me. I looked down at what I had grabbed. A large loaf of bread, a wheel of cheese, a couple heads of lettuce, and a large ham. Looked like sandwiches today. I walked to the kitchen thankful for the wide open space. I walked into the tent to find the men in the kitchen waiting for me. I walked up to the men and set the food up on a table. "Okay we're making sandwiches for the others today. Someone cook this ham. One of you cut the bread and the cheese. And someone clean the 

lettuce. The rest of the men and I will make the sandwiches when you're all done." The men nodded and started getting to work.

I figured I had about 40 minutes. I sat down at one of the table bench's. Was every day going to be this long? It seemed so far I had been here for at least a week not just one day. I leaned back on the table behind me. "Tired?" I looked up at the figure.

I smiled "I was just wondering if every day was going to be this long. But I'm fine. Hey Tye what's going on with the war?"

"Well that's a first. A lady who's wondering about the war I've seen it all." He paused and I waited for his answer. "Well it's not pretty business. Especially since at least 100 men got sick all of the sudden. Just out of the blue. Then we found out that Caleb a prince from Taman had showed up to join the fight. That guy is a one man army! We couldn't lay a single finger on him or his squad. But they, they just kept knocking men down. They didn't kill anyone strangely enough and all the men will make a full recovery though. It's the strangest thing. They could've easily killed those men but they didn't. Not that it would matter though. None of the men will be able to fight in the war anytime soon. I think a lot of the men around here are actually starting to respect him a lot. Me included. They don't like him, he is the enemy but we are starting to respect the man." I didn't know which news was better. That Caleb was doing so well and something I had said had sunk in, or the fact that a hundred men! Sure it was sad they had to be sick but like I've said so many times it was better than the alternative! That was the best news I'd heard all day! "So why has it been such a long day?"

My little bubble of happiness popped and I shook my head remembering. "It's that horrible cellar thing were you guys keep the food. It's horrible down there! How can anyone stand to go down there?"

He looked surprised at my statement. "You actually went down there? Wow you do have guts. A lot of the men don't even want to go down there. That was how Nick became the sub cook. He was the only one either dumb or brave enough to go down there. Some people around here think it's haunted. And you went down there?" I nodded my head. Me and Nick were the only ones who had ever gone down there?! "You know you're not like other girls are you?"

You have no idea. "Kira the food is ready!" I looked over and saw a man was waving me over. I had to get to know these guys names! It was ridiculous just saying 'hey you' and stuff like that.

"I'm coming! I better go Tye."

"I'll talk to you later."

He turned to walk off when I said "Hey Tye? What is your daughter's name?"

He turned and smiled "Ann. My little angel." And walked off. Ann, I liked it.

"Kira!" I looked back. It was that guy again. Couldn't he be patient for a few minutes? I sighed better hurry back before the guy started throwing a fit. That would be a laugh. I smiled imagining it in my head. The table was set. All the food in order. We were in a line. We would all make different kinds of sandwiches. I would make the ones with everything. While the others would make various others.

"Okay everybody get to work. We have to be ready before the crowd!" Everyone went quickly to work.

20 minutes and a whole lot of sandwiches later we were finally done! I looked around, now how was I going to put more poison in the food without anyone getting suspicious. The first time they would just blame it on the undistinguishable food Nick had cooked but twice in a row in the same tent. That would pull some questions. Wait the same tent! Maybe I could separate the places where I put the poison. Put it in random tents on random days. They wouldn't be able to pin anything on me. If they did seem to get suspicious then I could just stop for a while until the whole thing blew over! It was too late for lunch but I could put it in the wine for dinner. It was perfect!

"Kira the crowd is here." I looked up and saw more men then I had ever seen in my entire life piling through the tent. There was no way there was going to be enough room in here. A lot of them would have to eat outside. I looked at all the sandwiches we had made and wondered if it would be enough. "The crowd's not as large as it usually is. We might be able to give out seconds." I looked back at the men. Not as many as there usually was! How could these people stand their job?! No wonder Nick had wanted to quit! The men grabbed wooden plates and began piling through 

taking their sandwiches and leaving. I could see a look of gratitude on their face that for once they could actually recognized the food for once.

I waited for the last of the men to pass by and then the rest of us grabbed a plate and began choosing our lunch. The men walked off and set down next to friends and I wondered where I fit into the puzzle. I was that one piece that no matter what you tried it didn't fit and then you find out it belonged to a completely different puzzle. "Kira, come over here!" I looked over to my left and saw Evan sitting down. I walked over relieved to find somewhere to sit. I heard Evan mutter "Move over guys." The guys moved and I sat down in between Evan and Tye. "Well Kira these are the rest of my friends Nick, Derek. Their brothers from Chuan. You three should have a lot in common. The only difference was they were actually born there."

Oh no! They would figure out my accent was a fake the moment I spoke! Sure the cook was Chuan but she also had a Kyden touch in her speech. They would recognize it in the way I talked and I would be doomed! This was all going downhill. "What part of Chuan are you from?" Nick looked at me intently and I looked down pretending to be shy.

"Uh…" I didn't know what to do! My stomach began feeling upset and then the best thing happened to me. I threw up right on the ground. It was disgusting but it saved me from speaking.

"Kira are you alright? It must've been the food from this morning. A lot of people got sick earlier. Here Kira I'll walk you to your tent." Everyone had hopped up from the table and was now looking at me. I got up shaky and held my stomach. I hadn't eaten any breakfast but it was best to play along. This could work out. Finally things were looking up! I pretended to stumble and Evan grabbed my elbow. "It's alright. Just lay down for a while." I nodded my head and tried to look miserable. It was hard to do considering I was practically jumping for joy inside. If being a knight didn't work out I could always go for theatre.

We walked slowly towards the tent but we finally reached it. We walked in together and I laid down on the bed. He looked at me concerned and I gave him a small smile. He returned it and then walked out. I sighed in relief and sat up. That was to close for comfort. What were the odds though that Evans' friends would be from Chuan, the very place I was pretending to be from! I would have to avoid them at all costs. The best 

way to do that was by pretending to be sick. "Princess! Are you alright?" I recognized the voice from as the spy's.

"Yeah I'm fine. By the way do you happen to have any paper that I could use to write a message back to my father?"

He walked in handing me, two pieces of paper, a quill, and ink. "I'm sorry princess but I have to go." I understood. It would look suspicious if he hung around a sick persons' room to long. It would be too easy to get sick and that was the last thing anyone wanted to do. He walked out and I looked down at the piece of paper in my hand.

_Dear Caleb and my father._

_Normally I would say something sarcastic to lighten the mood but I don't really have a lot of time. I nearly got caught today and the only thing that saved me was throwing up on the ground. And not because my cooking was bad. No the thing is I've been trying to disguise my Kyden accent with Chuan and I have everyone fooled until I found out that there are two soldiers here who are from Chuan. If I speak to them they would be able to tell that I'm not from Chuan as I said. Which equals not good. The worst part is their friends of one of my friends. A guy named Evan. We're not that close but he's the son of the general and I might get some information. That could be helpful. So tell Daleigh she just might be the second person to kill me if I don't be careful. It's not all bad though. Now I don't have to cook or go down that treacherous hole (long story) and I can still do my mission without anyone being suspicious of me. I'll just have to do it at night. Oh by the way I beat Evan in a spare. Oh you've earned the respect of a lot of men over here by not killing the people you were facing and by being a one man army. Their words not mine. A lot of them aren't bad actually. Just sexist (another long story) I have to go. I'll get back to you later. _

_I'll make sure I see you later. Kira. _

I reread the note. Hopefully I it wouldn't get them to worried. Knowing my father it probably would but they would be glad to hear from me. Daleigh was most likely going to kill me if I did make it through this. I wouldn't mind either just as long as I could see her again. Her red braid trailing down her back and her emerald green eyes. The way she always made me smile. And my new friend Caleb. They together could always make me smile no matter what. My mind flashed back to that first day 

Caleb and I actually first met. He was the first person I lost too. My mind went to that night when my step mother brought up the "m" word and Caleb had talked to me. His short brown hair had blonde tips in the moonlight. "Kira, there's a doctor here to make sure your alright!" I panicked. What was Evan doing here! I put the note under my bed and lay down just as the doctor and Evan came in. If he hadn't said anything I would he might've seen the note and that plus how well I looked right now… Not good _**I have to be more careful! **_

The doctor seemed to be middle aged about 40 when he came walking in. He carried a bag of medicines that clanked happily at his side as he walked over towards me. His hand felt cool against my forehead. He clucked his tongue and grabbed my wrist. I wondered what the world he was doing when he said "Hm, it seems you have a fever and your pulse is racing. I'd say, stay in bed for a while and take this three times a day. It seems like you've caught what a lot of the men have. No sparing for you." He gave me a wink and I let out a small cough for effect. He shook his head and turned to Evan. "Whatever it is it came from the food. You won't get sick if you stay around her." He pulled out a blue bottle from his bag and handed it to Evan. "Watch over her boy and tell me if she gets any worse." I let faked another cough as the doctor left and closed my eyes trying to feel tired and calm down my heart. No wonder I had a 'fever' my heart was racing from the close call I just had.

Evan brought a small chair from the corner and pulled it towards the bed. I evened out my breathing and started to actually fall asleep when I felt a slight touch on my cheek. I opened my eyes a peak and saw his hand was brushing the hair from my face. My senses were on high alert and I had to fight the urge to knock his hand from my face. What did he think he was doing?! He whispered "This will all be over soon. This battle was just a decoy to capture the prince of Kyden. We have him now so we'll set out tomorrow. Then we'll get you the best medical attention we can. And I'll ask you to marry me. Sleep well." He bent low and kissed my cheek and then left. I opened my eyes right when he left and nearly screamed. What part to think about first?! He wanted to marry me! Can you say no! Shivers ran up my spine and my stomach churned again. And they captured my brother! How, when? Ah! I had to find out where, but how could I when I was supposed to be sick and Evan wanted to marry me! Me! Why me?! We barely even knew each other!

He wouldn't if he knew who I was but there was no way I was going to tell him that unless I wanted to get killed. There was also no way I was going to be able to find my brother in the light. I would have to sneak out during the night when everybody was asleep. Where would they keep him though? It had to be somewhere hidden and out of the way or else it would be the talk of the camp and I would've heard of it by now. Instead of having to figure out by Evan who by the way if you didn't know this yet I'm freaking out about. Can you say not compatible match? I pushed that out of my head. I was going to bust my brother out and then hightail it out of here as fast as I could. "Princess it's me again! I have news!" The spy person walked in and I looked up at him. Just what I needed more news! "Princess they've captured your brother! They have him in a cave a mile out!" Finally the best news I've heard all day, we knew where he was!

"That's where they have him? Okay meet me outside my tent tonight. We're going to break him out and get out of here!"

"Princess?"

"I already know the plan Evan told me when I was pretending to be asleep. I'll explain later but right now you have to go! Evan could be back at any moment!" He looked shocked but ran back through the tent. Now I knew where, now how would I get him out? If he was tied with a rope then I could always just cut the rope but what if he was hurt? I wouldn't be able to carry him the entire way. He was too heavy and they would notice I was gone by then and would be looking for me. I might be able to talk my way out of being up and walking about but there was no way I could explain having a kidnapped prince on my back! I laid down on my back and rubbed my temples. My head was throbbing from all the tension and I knew this worrying wasn't doing me any good. I would have to be wide awake and alert if I was going to pull this off.


	9. Getting him back

My eyes closed and I forced my mind to shut down. My eyes grew heavy and soon I fell asleep.

My heart was pounding as I ran through the woods. A owl hooted in a nearby tree and I kept running. My arms were bleeding but all I felt was numbness. A harsh voice called out behind me. He was gaining! I ran as fast as my legs would carry me jumping over the branches. My sleeve caught on a tree and I pulled at it. I heard a snap of a twig and I tugged at my sleeve as hard as I could. It finally gave but the guy he was so close! "Princess! Princess wake up someone will hear you!" I opened my eyes but all around me was dark. Had I finally gone off the deep end and was now hearing voices? My eyes adjusted to the lack of light and saw the outline of the spy in front of me.

I put my hand to my forehead and could feel beads of sweat on my hand. The dream had seemed so real! I felt a shiver run up and down my spine. Whatever it was though it was just a dream. I had more important things to worry about. I sat up in my bed "I'm fine. Let's go! My brother might not have much time!" I stood up and the I could feel the cold clammy ground under my feet.

"Follow me then. I found the cave earlier today." I saw his silhouette moving through the shadows and I followed after him making sure to be as quiet as we could. Any noise and any hope of saving my brother would be gone. I looked up at the sky wondering where the moons light had gone. The moon had disappeared from the sky and I right then I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. It was a new moon, perfect for sneaking about in. I could feel the stillness of the darkness settle into me and it was like I had fallen asleep and woken up into a whole new world. I saw a torch light a short distance away and the guy put his arm up to stop me. We waited in the darkness barely breathing until the light walked the other way. We were once again immersed into darkness as I followed the dark shadow in front of me.

We walked through the camp that way waiting if we saw a light and moving in the darkness. We were like two shadows moving soundlessly through the dark. When we came to the edge of camp I sighed from relief. We had just made it through the hardest part but I still had to be on high alert. Who knew if Evan would decide to check on me! He would find me gone and then all would be lost for my brother. It was now or never. I heard a sound in the distance and held my breath. Did they post sentries this far 

out of the camp too? "Don't worry Princess. They're just horses. The faster we get your brother and get him out of here the better." I nodded my head but realized he wouldn't be able to see me.

"I know this is kind of random but what is your name?"

"It's Darrin, Princess." I finally had a name to match this mysterious person. The horses whinnied out in the darkness and I figured they had to be just out of sight now. Sure enough I could see the forms of their bodies form in the darkness. I stepped forward towards one and could barely see the blonde of the horses' mane in the darkness. The horse sniffed at me and I recognized the horse at once as Bolt. How had he gotten Bolt here?

"Your father sent that horse along with me when I came over here. He said to give it to you if I met up with you. The other one I borrowed from their stables." It was as if he had read my mind! I rubbed my hand along Bolt's thick mane and I followed his back until I reached the saddle. I put my foot in the stirrup and jumped up on his back. I could feel him move anxiously beneath me and I felt around me to find where Darrin had tied him. My hand hit a tree limb and I bit my tongue to hold back a shout. I pulled my hand back and rubbed it until the pain began to lessen. I put my hand out more carefully and began feeling around be careful not to hit my hand again. My hand felt the leather of the reins and began pulling at the knot that held my horse. It came undone with an easy tug and grabbed them with my hands. "Are you ready Princess?"

"Lead the way." I heard his horse snort and then the quick footsteps as Darrin galloped off. Bolt was off in a flash and I could feel the wind pass by me and I felt like I was flying! Bolt was the fastest horse I had ever ridden! I listened to the night and kept Bolt right behind the footsteps of Darrin's horse. An owl hooted and I was reminded of that dream I had, had. I could feel goosebumps prickle at my arms but pushed them away. This was no time to get worried over a dream that meant nothing! Instead I focused on the slowing footsteps in front of me. We slowed to a walk and I missed the feel of Bolt's strong legs beating beneath me. Bolt whinnied and shook his head; he was as excited as I was! I patted his neck and could feel a small tremor of vibrations run up his neck as he let out another happy whiny.

I heard a small noise and then a small flame burst from the end of a torch in Darrin's hand. The light hurt my eyes and I rubbed at them. I looked at the huge tunnel in gaping out in front of us. It was like a hole had 

been ripped right smack dab in front of us. I could hear a noise from inside and I quickly dismounted. I ran towards the mouth of the cave the light growing dimmer behind me. Darrin ran in behind me and what I saw took my breath away. Inside was my brother with a large gash on his arm. He had a few bruises on his face and I ran to him. I knelt down before him and he gave me a weak smile. "I'm getting you out of here! Oh Ryan what did they do to you?"

"It's no use Kira. It's a metal chain. I can't get out unless you have a key." There was no way I was going to leave him here! Tears of frustration burned at my eyes but I wiped them away with my shirt. I could feel his hand on my knee and I looked at his face. "Kira I'll be fine. I'll get out of this. I always do."

"Ryan I don't want to leave you. You're my brother and I'm going to stand by you and fight if I have to!"

He shook his head "I have no doubt you will but you can't. Who will rescue me if you get caught?" I looked at him and gave him a hug. My brother had grown up a lot in such a short time.

"Princess we need to go soon. People are on their way!" I looked over my shoulder and saw lights in the distance. I didn't want to leave Ryan though. He was my younger brother and even if he was annoying that didn't mean I didn't love him.

"Go Kira. You should know by now you're not going to get rid of me that easily." I smiled weakly and gave him one last hug.

"I will come and find you even if I have to go to Algresia by myself! So just wait for me okay." He nodded his head and I got up off my knees.

I ran to the entrance of the cave and looked at him once more. "Go! Now!" I turned away and ran towards the horses with tears in my eyes. Darrin was already mounted and ready to go. I hopped on my horse and Darrin blew out the torch. We were surrounded by darkness once again. I nudged my horse and Bolt took off in a gallop.

When I saw the flag on flowing in the wind my heart skipped a beat. I rode Bolt right to the front of my father's tent and dismounted. A guy took my horse and I ran into the tent. Caleb and my father were sitting on chairs talking about something when they noticed me. Tears stung at my eyes and they both rose at the same time. My knees gave out beneath me and I 

shrunk down into tears. I hadn't saved my brother. I had left him there without a fight! I had left him there!

I could feel strong warm arms wrap around me and I laid my head against his shoulder. "Kira, it's alright." I just sat there on my knees and cried against Caleb's shoulder.

I stopped crying after who knows how long and Caleb leaned back from me. "You alright now?" I nodded my head and he smiled at me. "That's good; you were just about to drown the entire kingdom." I gave him a small smile but my heart still felt like lead. He put his hand under my chin and lifted up my face and my mind went back to the time I had done that exact same thing to Bentley. "You didn't let your brother get kidnapped and if I know you, you did the only thing possible. Ryan will be fine I promise." I looked into his eyes and it felt like a heavy weight dropped from my heart. He was right; I would get my brother back even if I had to go alone! I would go to Algresia and get my brother back no matter what! Even if that wasn't really meant that was what I was going to do.

"Your right I will. Are you coming?"

He looked at me stunned "Going where?"

"To get my brother back! Where else?"

"You just got back and your father sent his best knights to go get him back!"

I stood up pointless anger pushing me on "No he didn't send his best knights! You've said yourself I was one of the best fighters in the kingdom. Not to mention there's nothing you can do to stop me so that just leaves you with either coming or staying out of my way, because I am going to get him and I'm going to do it right now!"

He stood up after me and I could hear him sigh but I didn't care he wasn't going to stop me nor would anyone. He looked down to the ground and I could hear him sigh again. What was going on with all the sighing? "I'll go with you but we have to prepare first or we'll get killed the moment we get there!"

I could feel my hands clinch at my sides but I knew he was right. Darn him and his stinking logic! "Fine but we have to leave as soon as we can." I wanted to leave as soon as possible but a small part of me was glad he 

had agreed to go along. I didn't want to meet up with Evan again alone. Trust me I had, had enough of him already.

"Hey what's getting at you?" I looked up at him shocked. What could he read thought's now too?

I shook my head and tried to put the thoughts of Evan in the back of my head. The last thing I wanted was for him to think I was turning into some weak girl or something. I mean I had already kicked Evan's butt in a spare before why was this any different? _**You heard him say he wanted to marry you, and because he was actually nice to you. **_I pushed that away, he was the enemy! He had helped kidnapped my brother! "Just something that happened while I was at their camp. I'm fine you don't have to worry." He looked at me and I could tell he didn't believe a word I said.

"Kira you're uptight about something and it might be just your brother but is there something you want to tell me?"

"What my brother being kidnapped and me not doing single thing about it isn't enough of a reason to be uptight and angry? Because last time I checked that was a pretty big deal!" Why was I being so rude you ask? Well honestly I had no idea but I'm putting my money on the fact that I was mad at myself for not doing anything. I could've tried harder! I could've asked for an exchange me for my brother or something. **No that wouldn't have worked either!** _**Then we both would've got captured. **_ Stupid inner voice talking sense.

"I'm not saying it's not a big deal because as you so kindly pointed out it is in fact a big deal! I'm just saying something else is getting at you!"

Okay that shocked me but I was too stubborn to show it. How in the world did he know something else was getting at me?! "Well since you can obviously read me so well , why don't you figure it out yourself!" With that I stormed out of the tent in a furry I didn't even know I had. I just knew I had to get my brother back! I wasn't going to be able to live with myself until I did.

Sure all this beating myself up probably wasn't helping and all you girls reading this are probably thinking why be mad, you should celebrate! Well I wasn't because if you think about it would you really I mean really want your brother to be kidnapped like mine was? And I could've done 

something to help; I could've tried a little harder! Before I knew what I was doing I felt a cold wetness surrounding my bare feet. What the?

I looked down and noticed I noticed the clear blue water rippling against my ankles. See I could kick guy's butts and be poetic! I had evidently spaced out and walked right into the pond just at the edge of the castle walls. Heh, ohps. I walked out through the chilling water to a large gray rock a few feet into the pond and sat down on its clammy hard surface. I pulled my knees to my chest and put my head on my elbows looking across the smooth water. I was on a roll with this poetry thing wasn't I? I smiled as I remembered when my mother took me here when I was five.

My mom wasn't like regular royalty, she was born royally but she had gotten separated from her parent's when she was just a girl. A farmer's family had taken her in because she was so little and she couldn't really remember what had happened. Long story short she didn't actually find out she was royalty until she was 15 and by that time as many regal royals said the damage had already been done.

That's the reason I was the way I was and not some regular princess who would rather watch guys then fight them like I did. I had come here before when my advisors or teachers were getting on my nerves or on a rare occasion when I had some time to spare. It had been forever since I had come back here though. Recently this place had been replaced by sparing up at the sparing field.

I heard a snap of a twig behind me and I turned my head my head sharply to see who was there. Pushing his way through the brush was, oh come on you can guess. Yup Caleb. I relaxed a little and laid my head back down on my elbows. I knew I had to apologize but that didn't mean I was going to make it exactly easy for him. I felt a hand on my shoulder but I tried to ignore it and look out the water but there's a difference between trying and succeeding.

I had no idea why but I just couldn't get the thought of his hand on my shoulder out of my mind. I looked up at him and I saw a small smile. "Mind if I sit down here?" I shrugged and felt his hand fall off my shoulder. I kind of missed it… wait no! I did not just think that! I shook my head trying to shake the thought out of my head. Geez what was wrong with me? "Look I'm sorry for making you upset. I know it must be hard on you to lose your brother." I looked at him shocked. He was sorry? For what, for being right? 

Not that he knew that though because of the way I was acting. Sure I was mad at losing my brother but that didn't mean I had to take it out on him. No I should be saving it for getting my brother back from those creeps.

"You shouldn't be sorry. You were right. I wasn't just mad at myself not rescuing my brother. There was this guy at their camp that I met. He helped me out and I guess we kind of became friends. Not really but sort of. Then something happened and then I went to rescue my brother and I couldn't because he was chained to that stupid cave wall and I couldn't break the chain." I kept my eyes focused out on the water and tried as hard as I could to keep the water forming behind my eyes well behind my eyes.

"What happened?" His voice seemed soft and warm and it made me feel like he cared, like he truly and honestly cared.

I told him all that I could as it swept through my memory making me feel like I was living it all over again. I was about to tell him about how Evan had kissed my forehead when Caleb stood up unexpectedly. Had he heard something? I looked around me but I didn't see anything suspicious. "He was going to ask you to marry him?! After what you had known him for like a day or two and he was already going to ask you to marry him! He barely even knew you for crying out loud!" I looked up at him shocked and he seemed to have this death glare thing in his eyes. He was looking through the woods towards where their camp had been. What in the world was his deal? He was silent during the whole thing and now he decides to go off? Can you say weird… wait a second.

" Caleb! Why are you jealou…"

"No I am not jealous! It's just, I mean. No I am not jealous!" I smirked up at him and laughed inwardly. I know it was mean but Caleb was jealous! I mean sure he was denying it but he hadn't even let me finish speaking! He noticed my smirk and growled at me. "I am not jealous! I'm just being a good friend and looking out for you. Just a friend!"

"Okay sure, whatever you say Caleb!" He growled again and I had to bite my tongue to keep from cracking up! Oh man this was good.

"SAKIRA! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" I whirled around to see Daleigh running at me. Uh-oh this wasn't good! Before I could take a breath Daleigh had already wrapped me in gut squeezing hug.


	10. the almost kiss and sweet revenge

"Daleigh…can't…breath!" She just ignored me and squeezed harder. _**Death by a hug. Never had that one before! **_She finally let go and I breathed deeply. Ah precious, wonderful, air! I smiled and her face immediately went from happy to evil, malicious, death glare. Oh really not good. If she was going to kill me when she was ecstatic what was going to happen when she was angry?!

Not to mention Caleb was just sitting on the rock again, watching me suffer. Yeah real good friend, he was protective of me when it was a guy but if it was a girl (cough Daleigh cough cough) then he was just fine… hmm suspicious. Especially since he claimed he wasn't jealous. "I'm going to give you five seconds. I would run if I were you!" I yelped and took off. Sure I could maybe take her but I wasn't really going to run that risk. Sure I could take on any guy no problem but you've never seen a mad Daleigh. Count yourselves lucky. I ran as fast as I could with Daleigh right behind me and the bad part, she was gaining and fast.

"Caleb if you had any decency you would help! What happened to being a good friend! Would a good friend let a good friend get killed?"

He just laughed and continued watching my plight. Ugh there goes my last hope! Just then Daleigh tackled me to the ground and I felt her fingers tickling me. Yeah I know not really bloody murder but come on! If you've ever been tickled like that then you know what I'm talking about! "No Daleigh... No! Please! Daleigh! Ah stop! Please!" I had to say it between peals of laughter both from me and Daleigh. I thrashed around trying to get free but no matter how hard I tried she kept me pinned. "Caleb help! No Daleigh! Please stop! Ah!" She was still tickling me but I just couldn't get free! She finally stopped and I thought my torture was over, well that is until I felt someone pick me up in their arms. "Caleb what are you doing? Caleb! Put me down!" He just smiled and I realized where he was walking "Caleb no don't put me in the water! NO! CALEB!"

He just kept up that evil smile "I thought you wanted to put you down? I'm just doing what you wanted." With that he dropped me in the water! I felt the cold envelope me and I quickly stood up in the water. Oh was that boy going to get it now! I ran after him socked to the bone and he took off. Oh but he would not go far. Now what's the best way to murder someone without anyone finding out hmm… I chased after him. Daleigh was cracking up on the ground and I decided I could get her first. I ran after her and she 

jumped up and took off still laughing. I got her to the ground and smiled at her. PAYBACK!

"No Sakira! NO! Caleb was the one that dropped you in the water and I told you I would have to kill you if you did anything stupid! NO!" I began tickling her mercilessly. Well that is until another someone walked through the woods. Wow this place was turning into a regular hot spot.

"Sakira! Get off of her right now! Why are you soaking wet and what is going on!" Now I know you can figure who just came. Of course my sweet, not annoying step-mother, just perfect! "What is this that I hear about you going after your brother and joining a war? Not to mention the fact you look absolutely atrocious and was just tickling a lady in waiting! I'm a failure as a mother! To have a daughter that no one can control like some wild animal!"

Hey! I may not be like other girls so what! I was proud of who I was, I didn't need rescuing I did the rescuing and that was the way I would like it! Who needs to wait on some boy to do the job for you! I mean I have nothing against guys but why were they treated so high and mighty? Girls can do just as much as guys! And you know what I don't care I was going to take that as a compliment. I happen to like animals so why not!?

"Excuse me, you highness but your daughter is no wild animal, she's a good friend to Daleigh and I. You need to see for who she is and not who she isn't nor ever will be!" I looked at Caleb shocked. No one and I mean no one had ever stood up to my mother that way. Did I mention ever?! I looked back at my step mom and saw her mouth was slightly open and no words were coming out. Which pretty much translated into she was shocked beyond belief. No make that beyond words and trust me THAT is worse than beyond belief for my step-mother. "Your daughter saved countless lives on the battle field and is a hero. She risked her life for those both on our side and on theirs! She doesn't deserve for you to be calling her a wild animal and always ridiculing her! You should be proud to call her your step-daughter." Now I'm pretty sure at this point even my mouth was hanging on the floor. My step mother seemed to get over her shock and huffed away, nose in the air. I looked from Daleigh to Caleb and then all three of us broke into even more peals of laughter but something deep inside of me began pulling at me but I couldn't quite place it. I stopped laughing abruptly when realization came and hit me full force once again. How could I be laughing with friends when at this very moment my brother 

was a slave? Idiot! The others glanced questioningly at me and then I could see a light go on in Caleb's eyes too. He frowned as he said "Come on we need to start packing and choose the knights that will come with us. It can't be too many so that we'll be easily spotted but just enough so that we can stand a chance." He glanced back in the direction of the camp. "We should find any other knights who will come and then narrow them down. It might take a while." I shook my head and he focused his attention once again on me. "What?"

"It won't take that long, because I already have two people in mind. I just need to know if they'll do it." I focused on Daleigh and our eyes met. My sky blue to her grass green. She broke my gaze staring off behind me thinking of something. "Come on Daleigh! You're the best archer in the land! Anyone can see that! Not to mention two guys and two girls would be a better chance than just three! And I would take three men but that would leave me the only woman and that would look a little off. Plus Daleigh we can't let all the men have the fun! You know you can do it so why not?! Come with us?"

"Well… if you put it that way then I might as well come. Can't let the royal pain get herself killed now can I?" I smiled at her and she gave me a small smile in return. Okay that settles that now just to find…

"Okay Daleigh's coming but who is this second guy?" Hmm was it just me or did Caleb sound jealous? Well one way to find out. To annoy Caleb or not to annoy Caleb that is the question. The answer to that particular question? Well let me give you a hint; it's not no. That help you any?

"Oh just an old friend I met while I was at the enemy camp. He looked really strong and he had the dreamiest eyes! I think he would be a true asset if he were to come along. Don't you Day?" I winked at her letting her in one the little joke and I could see the fairest hint of a smile.

"Oh you mean that one knight you met last summer? You saw him again!? How excellent, I remember you wouldn't shut up about him and how much stronger he was then you and how you respected him all the more for it!" I bit my tongue on that and gave her I'm-going-to-kill-you look. Should've known she was going to find a way to turn this against me.

"Of course Daleigh that knight from last summer who else? I mean we both already know so much about him you don't need to repeat it! I've only talked about him hundreds of times! But I'm sure we're boring Caleb 

with this idle chatter and we do need to ask if he'll come along with us and help us with our supplies and such." Daleigh smiled once again and I groaned inwardly. What was she going to say now?

"Of course we've talked about him so much but yet I fail to remember his name? You should remember right?"

"Well of course, it was Aidan! You must be losing you memory to forget!" I smiled at her and it was her turn to glare. She knew that was just a name that I had made up on the spot but now there was nothing she could do about it so ha! Daleigh zero, me one!

"Well what is his last name? I know many of the knights around this area so maybe I would know him too." I bit my lip to hide a smile at Caleb's voice. He was jealous! I knew it! "That is if he even exists." I glared at him as he smirked smugly. He had known I was trying to pull one on him all along! This meant I was back to square one! Dang it!

"Come on we need to get supplies Mr. Know it all. Daleigh I blame you, why did you have to go and say he was stronger than me and of all things that I respected him for it? You know very well I'm not that gracious in defeat!"

"Yep I have the bruises to prove it. Remember our last fight?! Nearly killed me!" I stomped away from their smiling faces grumbling under my breath, about getting supplies and such to go and rescue my brother. Well that is until I got a very clever idea.

I turned back to the two following behind me laughing and noticed how their smiles faded as they looked at my face. "Well since this rescue mission was my idea that means I'm in charge. Meaning I tell we take off, when we rest, and when or what we eat. Meaning we're starting off early guys! Be ready by dawn the day after tomorrow!" I turned around and quickly ran off before anyone could object and began gathering necessities for our trip. _**I'm coming Ryan. Just hold on a while longer! **_

The sun's golden head was just peaking it's head when I jumped from bed. I hadn't gotten barely any sleep last night and I was just ready to get on the road. I had even slept in my traveling clothes! Sure the heavy wool pants and shirt were a little wrinkled but it wasn't like I was going to a royal ball or something. You dress for comfort not for style… or so I had heard. For the first time since coming up with this plan a small voice of doubt 

leaked into my head. What if I wasn't strong enough for this? What if I blew the whole thing just because of some stupid pride? No! Now was not the time. I pushed the thoughts back were they belonged, in the back of my head easily ignored. I slipped on my boots and stood up with a smile. I was going to rescue my brother no matter what.

I ran into Caleb's room first and smiled as my small candle light flickered on the king size bed in the middle of the room. Caleb was wrapped up tightly in white blankets, his head lolled to one side. He looked almost too peaceful to wake up. I could end that! I tiptoed to his bed and lay my candle down on the small mahogany chest beside his bed, making sure to make as little sound as possible. Who knew how light of a sleeper he was, and I didn't feel like ruining my fun over some klutzy noise. I leaned down just centimeters from his ear and I could feel his soft breath blowing in and out in a steady rhythm. Aww. "CALEB! WAKE UP! Jeez the sun is almost up!" I moved quickly back and laughed as he jumped a foot into the air. His blankets went into chaos around him and he glared up at me, now fully awake. Nope not so peaceful anymore is he? I smiled innocently at him with a 'did- I-do- that?' look. If looks could kill I would be in a grave somewhere. "Lighten up Caleb, you can help me wake up Daleigh." He shook his head but I could see the small smile at the corner of his lip. Hm what to do to wake up Daleigh? I looked up trying to come up with something.

And just as I did Caleb took the liberty to grab a cup of water from the same mahogany table I had placed the candle on, and dumped in on my head. Now it was my turn to glare at him, oh he was so DEAD! I growled at him and he just stood there with a big cocky smirk on his face. A plan popped into my head and smiled angelically at him. His smile faded and I saw a mixture of confusion and fear enter his eyes. I just smiled brighter and in the most persuasive voice I could muster said "Caleb come closer. It's alright, really." He shuffled a little closer still remaining cautious. I sighed and started leaning in making a great show of looking like I was going to kiss him. I saw his eyes widen but a second later he started leaning in too!

My heart began to flutter and I ignored it, what in the blue world did he think he was doing? When our lips were just centimeters apart I lashed out with my hand, grabbing him by the ear and pulling him after me out into the hall. Ignoring his protests I drug him down the hall an evil smile on my face. You don't grow up with a younger brother without learning a few 

tricks. I pulled him to the same wooden door that I remembered it so well. Had all of this happened in such little time? I dropped Caleb's ear and he glared at me. I didn't notice though, I was staring at the door remembering the day this all started. I sighed and knocked on the door. "Oh so you knock on HER door, nice to know," I shook my head smiling a little bit before knocking on the door.


	11. Just friends, right?

**A small, bronze haired woman answered the door. She smiled when she saw me and I gave her a small curtsey. She shook her head, clucked her tongue muttering something about me being the craziest princess she's ever heard of. I smile at her and she waves me and Caleb in with motherly impatience. Tina , Daleigh's mother, had always seemed like just that to me too. Every winter Daleigh and Tina would force me intone knit creation or another saying I was going to get a fever and die if I didn't. At first I had protested, saying and I quote "I'm going to burn into a crisp in these clothes! It's hotter than the sun in here!" She smiles as she forces yet another sweaty catastrophe on me. **

**"Good you'll work on your tan then." Eventually I learned to ignore it and just let her have her way. It was impossible not to love her though. She ushered us in and forced us to take a seat in her small living room. "So dear what is it? Oh are you and Daleigh going on that mission today?" I nodded my head slowly.**

"**If it's alright with you Tina, I wouldn't want to do anything against you wishes." She smiled sadly and shook her head. **

"**My dear I know and I think that it would be best if she did go, but promise me something." **

"**Anything, you know that!" She nodded her head again slowly and I saw a dull pain in her eyes. I wanted to hug her and let her know I would never let Daleigh get hurt but I **

**knew it would've been an empty promise. I had control of fate as much as an ant did of a storm. **

"**Promise me that both of you will try your hardest to get back to me. I know this may sound strange but you're as much of my daughter as Daleigh is and I would wish no one get hurt." I smiled and wiped the tears away from my eyes. I stood up and gave her a hug. She smiled and leaned away to look up at me, her brown eyes sparkling with tears. "Now go and get my lazy daughter out of bed!" I nodded smiling and ran off to Daleigh's room. Time for revenge, sweet, sweet revenge. I found Daleigh wrapped up tightly in a blanket cocoon. Perfect! I grabbed the furthest edge of the blanket and yanked it back as hard as I could. Daleigh jumped, startled and fell off the bed in a heap of covers and pillows. She sits up immediately and glares at me causing me just to laugh all the harder. Now she knows how I feel! She hopped to her feet and I run out the room and right into Caleb….crap. I turn to run away but he just grabs my wrists so now I'm really stuck. Daleigh comes out and seeing my predicament smiles evilly. **

"**Umm Tina HELP!" She just chuckles and plops down on picking up her sowing from a side table. **

"**Time you learnt not to sow what you can't reap." I gulped loudly and looked from face to face. Both had impish grins on their faces and I had to gulp again. **

"**What are you guys going to do?" **

"**Hey Daleigh, happen to have any rope here?" She nodded and ran into her room. Why did she have rope in her **

**room? She came back with a bunch of bright pink scarves and I started squirming. In my opinion pink was the worst color. **

"**No! No PINK!" Daleigh just smiled coming closer with the dreaded pink. I moved my head side to side but she still managed to tie it over my mouth so all my words came out muffled and incoherent. Next she moved to my hands tying them tightly so I had no hope of getting them undone myself. She had one scarf left in her hands and I wondered what she was going to do with it, when she bent down to also tie up my legs. I tried moving them but Caleb was using his foot to step on one and Daleigh was holding the other, in short terms' struggling was pointless. She stood up and brushed her hands off. I glared at her and mumbled something even I couldn't understand. Happy with the job she did at tying me up she just smiled and turned her attention to Caleb who was supporting my weight since I would've fallen right over if her hadn't. These guys were pure evil! We didn't have all this time to lose! Not to mention I had warned them beforehand that I was going to wake them up early! Okay maybe I did go a little overboard on the wake up party but still! **

**I looked from face to face and I saw a moment of indecision in both of their eyes. HA! They didn't know what to do now! I smiled smugly even though they couldn't see it. Suddenly I saw a spark in Daleigh's eyes and I groaned. So much for THAT! I sighed and bowed my head, it was her turn to smile smugly now and quite honestly I didn't like the turn. "Caleb do you think you could carry her?" I looked over my shoulder at him as he nodded, a little confused but happy at **

**the chance of revenge. He plopped me up on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and I yelled more muffled profanities at him. Well okay I didn't actually cuss or anything but still my step mother would've feinted if she heard. Caleb on the other hand just laughed and jumped a little making me bounce on his shoulder and I yelped afraid he was going to drop at me, which of course just fueled his laughter that much more. **

**Caleb followed Daleigh out the door and many of the castles' servants stopped and stared for a second but then turned away laughing. Did anyone care that I was being kidnapped here? Anyone?! I heard a loud, familiar voice and a seed of hope was planted in my soul. Surely my dad would stop this madness! "Caleb, Daleigh? Why is my daughter tied up?" Daleigh stepped forward and smiled sweetly. **

"**We thought we would take her for a swim before we left, you know to wake her up just as kindly as she did us!" My eyes widened at this new piece of information and I heard Caleb mutter an excellent under his breath. My father had to stop this, oh please let my father stop this. But noooo that would've been too easy, instead he just chuckled shaking his head as he retreated to another room. I dropped my head to the Caleb's back in defeat. Even my own FATHER was letting them get away with this! **

**Before I knew it I could feel Caleb stop. There was a slight pressure on my wrists and my feet and I wriggled my them gladly, happy to have feeling back. All of the sudden I was falling and I held my breath before I dropped head first into the cold, dark water. I swam to the surface and just treaded **

**water glaring at them as they were practically on the ground laughing. They hadn't even noticed me come up! I smiled evilly and sank below the water, swimming towards the shore. I quietly pulled myself out and snuck in a bush that was conveniently placed behind them. I smiled evilly and hid myself in the numerous branches. Caleb stopped laughing first and I saw him searching the water for me, and although I couldn't see his face I imagined he was probably a little worried now. **

"**Daleigh! Daleigh did you see Kira come up?" Suddenly Daleigh stopped laughing and searched the water for sign of me too. They looked at each other and I decided now would be the best time to make a grand appearance before they really started freaking out. I sprinted from the bushes and watched as their shocked faces saw me before pushing them into the water. The only thing I hadn't accounted for though, was at the speed I had gone it was kind of hard to just suddenly stop, so instead of just them going in I stumbled on the water's edge my arms flailing trying to find balance before I plopped into the water too. This also happened to be just in front of where Caleb had popped up. I felt the water rushing up all around me like last time, but this time I also felt Caleb's arms wrapping around me as we were both pulled under. My eyes opened in surprise but seeing as we were still underwater all I saw the dark murkiness of the water. I could feel Caleb's chest against my back as we floated quickly upwards and my face grew red hot, seeing as he hadn't let go yet made it all the more embarrassing. Why hadn't he let go yet? Did I really even want him to let go? What?! Of course I did, he was my **

**friend but personal bubble! My head reached the surface and he finally let go of me. **

**I took a deep breath, trying to calm down my heart. Not because of him, it was because of the surprise impact of water! I think…. I shook my head and put on a serious face trying really hard to ignore the embarrassment I was feeling. "Come on guys, let's get dried off and saddled up." They nodded appearing a little shocked by the sudden change in attitude. I just turned around and swam off. Caleb and I were JUST friends right? I thought so but… no, now's not the time. I pulled myself from the bank and walked off, Daleigh and Caleb running to catch up. **


	12. Fiance?

**_We trotted quietly through the overly green woods. Well okay as quietly as three horses could be in a green forest. As you probably know green forests mean green leaves, green leaves mean plenty of crunching and snapping as you step. Trust me it's even worse with horses. I had to force myself not to roll my eyes. Very sneaky weren't we? Not to mention everything had gotten really quiet ever since my major overreaction. You know that moment in time I went into some weird leader overload. You could practically see the gears turning in Daleigh's head as she tried to figure out what exactly had caused it. I wished her luck because hey I didn't even know really what had caused it! I mean yeah he had his arms around me, big whoop I fell on him for crying out loud! It was probably just a natural reaction or something. _**

**_I would've suggested a race or SOMETHING besides this oppressing silence but the trees were too dense and I didn't feel like running into a tree on a horse. Oh right your probably wondering why we weren't on a path. Well good question, and since it's such a good question I shall take a moment to honor such a well thought out question…. No I am not stalling! Of course I'm not stalling! Why would I be stalling?! "Kira, you got lost didn't you?" No!_**

"**_No!" Ah, saying first thing that pops into mind always good. I heard a snicker and glared at Daleigh who suddenly tried to pass it off as a cough. This time I did roll my eyes. _**

"**_Really?" Ugh he didn't believe me! Well okay it was partly true but I knew we were still going in the right direction. How did I know? Well I just did okay? Enough _**

**_with twenty questions! Okay so I had gotten us lost at first but we were back on track and we should run into the path again any moment. _**

"**_Yes really! See there's the path already, happy?" He shook his head and I smiled smugly, because sure enough there was a small break in the woods and you could already see the brown of the dirt path. I put the hood of my cape up slouched a bit in my saddle. I wasn't taking any chances on being discovered. Not after all this. I looked over at Daleigh and chuckled a bit. My group had just put up their hoods too, and that with the dark horses we were riding would lead people to believe we were dark angels or something! We were only missing the wings. I smiled at the thought, I was getting so random! _**

**_I sighed though; our little detour had taken more time then I previously thought. In the woods only small doses of light could break through the piled clumps of leaves but now you could clearly see the orange/ purple streaks racing across the sky. I groaned. We were going to have to go off the trail again! I had planned on staying a hotel, not because I couldn't sleep on the ground, because it would offer more privacy. Too bad my horrible sense of direction had other plans. We were at least another half day rid to town and there was no way we could make it there before night fall. _****Thank you sense of direction, what would I do without you?! Grrrr. ****_ "Okay guys looks like we're sleeping in the woods tonight." Daleigh groaned but Caleb made no sound at all. Suspicious, I narrowed my eyes and yes I did know he couldn't see that! _**

"**_Kira would you like me to lead the way or perhaps you would like us to get lost in the woods again?" His tone _**

**_wasn't a mean one but worse, oh so much more worse. It was a light, teasing tone. Honestly I wouldn't have minded very much if it had been any other time of the month, girls you should catch my drift. That was probably the other reason I had freaked so much this morning. I shook my head once again changing train of thoughts. _**

**_"Fine, go ahead." I looked forward but out of the corner of my eye I could see two heads snap towards me so quickly they probably had whip-lash. Oh wow I hadn't said something sarcastic and leader-ish, the world must have halted in its tracks and started spinning backwards! I saw a slight quiver coming from the black figure beside me and I guessed it was Caleb shaking off the shock. I just smiled and put a hand in front of me in a large arc and finishing it off with a bow (the best one could do on a horse that is) and I could practically feel the heat coming from under his cloak. If I wasn't careful Caleb was going to murder me while I slept tonight…. Maybe I should take first watch. Wouldn't want Caleb to do anything he would regret later would we? _**

**_He rode ahead of me and I fell in step beside Daleigh. When Caleb was a few feet in front of us Daleigh started laughing. She must have noticed my confused demeanor because she stopped laughing and began explaining. " You may be a princess but you looked like a fool when you bowed like that!" _**

**_"Hey have you ever tried to bow when on a bouncing horse?! It's not that easy!" She just laughed again. I opened my mouth to reply when a sharp snap of a twig sent me on high alert. It was probably just another traveler but I felt my hand moving to the sword at my side. Something _**

**_was giving me a weird feeling and I didn't like it a bit. I snuck a glance at Caleb and Daleigh and saw them doing the same. The feeling was mutual, never a good thing in a situation like this. Another snap and my hand was gripping my sword with a death grip. It was getting closer. Suddenly a thump landed by my head and I could feel a brush of air right above my ear. _**

**_The arrow knocked off my hood and I heard a bunch of loud talking as soon as I did. Had someone recognized me or were they not expecting it to be a lady holding the sword with such vigor? If it was the latter I was going to be hard pressed to not utter sexist pig under my breath. Can you blame me? I mean seriously not ALL girls are well as girly as they were in the courts, right? I had hoped but maybe not. Suddenly a small troop of five men came bounding out of the woods in no particular order. I was still in battle mode so I didn't really assess what they looked at but more of what I noticed every time I was in battle mode, weaknesses. (Which much to my dismay was much harder to do when they were riding horses) I did notice that two in the bag of the huddle were archers, leaving the rest as swordsmen. Personally I didn't like that very much; we were outnumbered in all aspects. _**

"**_May I ask why you felt obligated to attack my fiancé and her maid?" I resisted the urge to just plain out stare at Caleb. Fiancé? That was what he came up with? Well Daleigh was getting that role; I would rather be a maid then engaged! That was worse than cussing in my book! I bowed my eyes and slightly inclined my head downwards, the way I had seen numerous servants act when nervous or embarrassed. _**

****

**_"I'm sorry sir; we thought you were a group of bandits. They've become very popular along these roads, especially when it's getting darker. It would be safer for you three if you joined our group, least we could do for attacking your fiancé umm…" Fiancé! Aw come on! I could practically feel the smug look on Daleigh's face. She probably didn't mind being thought of as Caleb's fiancé but she knew I would! Not because I didn't like him, he was a really good friend but my thing for marriage had faded after mom died and dad had gotten re-married. _**

"**_I'm Dharin, my fiancé is Kezzie, and our maid is Allie." I gave a curt nod at my "name", at least he was a bit better at the name thing, okay probably a lot better but aren't we getting off subject again?! _**

"**_Don't worry about the attacking me part, Dannie taught me how to fend for myself. Always been the paranoid one he has." I winked as he narrowed his eyes slightly at me. I smiled innocently at the men and it just grew all the brighter when they all smiled back, oblivious to "Dannie's" torment. He was going to regret the day he made me his "fiancé"! _**

"**_Well you guys can pull those hoods off and follow us. We know a good place to camp not too far from here. The ladies must be tired." I almost shook my head but Caleb came round and put a hand on my shoulder, making me instead look up in his direction and ignore the weird flop my stomach did when I saw that he was looking down at me, and we were uncomfortably close… It had to be another puberty thing. _**

"**_Yes my Kez is very tired. We had to wake up early this morning and we would hate to be robbed. Thanks." He _**

**_had looked up at the men again but I still stared up at him trying to bring up the will to glare back at him for saying "my", It wasn't like I was some sheep, but yet I couldn't even find the will to do it. I must've been more tired than I thought, that and puberty were mixing me up! I internally sighed. I was running out of excuses and I knew it. In some unfathomable way I think I had fallen a little bit for Caleb. _**


	13. Deal or no deal?

**_The thought scared me but at the same time sent a battalion of butterflies to the pit of my stomach, and truth be told it felt kind of weirdly, good. This was confusing! Was it always like this?! I pulled my gaze from Caleb and back to the men, adding in a fake yawn for effect. I must have done pretty well because they nodded and what I supposed was the leader of their group turned his horse around and motioned for us to do the same. And so we took off with us in the middle, surrounded completely by strange men. _**

**_Yeah I was pretty uptight and any thoughts I had about situating this weird feelings were pushed from my mind. I always had one hand on my waist, right near my sword without it being over-conspicuous. I was uptight and I wondered if Daleigh and Caleb felt the same way, if they too were catching the bad vibes I was getting. I couldn't take the risk of looking at them though. The men seemed friendly enough to us but I had a sense that not everything was quite as it appeared. Although I hated to admit it I kind of hoped that anxious part of me was right, that we would be fighting soon. _**

**_I know it wasn't like me but again no killing, I just wanted the same familiarity that the fight always brought, the world were nothing else exists. The only problem was, though, the light was getting bad. The sky was getting darker, and already a few brave fireflies were braving the space around us. In less than an hour we wouldn't even be able to see anymore let alone ride! Our horses and capes were even starting to blend in with the trees around us leaving Caleb, Daleigh, and me looking like nothing more than floating heads. I would've laughed _**

**_at the hilarity of it had I not the feeling not been drowned out by my growing anxiety. _**

**_Suddenly there was a small circle were the trees cleared out in a fifteen foot diameter. I couldn't exactly see the brook but I could hear the soft rush as the water poured over rocks and such. My gaze turned upwards and I smiled as a few bright stars shone brightly through large breaks of the leaved canopy. My anxieties fainted into thin nothings as I gazed up into the stars. They always had a way of calming me, of showing me how much there was to learn about our world, and how small we were compared to the main scheme of things. _**

**_I heard a rushed, angry whisper followed by more and more. I probably would've ignored it if it hadn't been getting louder and louder. The last thing I wanted now was a fight, huh go figure. Know that I had been thinking of it, I was getting tired and I just wanted to sleep. I reluctantly turned my gaze back to the ground and could see to silhouettes against the dark background. I walked over with a sigh. "What's wrong?" The guys stopped immediately and turned towards me. I couldn't see quite clearly but it looked like they had the same red hair as the archers. _**

"**_It's nothing Miss Kez, my brother was just being an idiot." I looked from man to man and shrugged. It had nothing to do with me._**

"**_Just keep it down; Dharin, Lee, and I have to wake up early again tomorrow." I heard a small groan behind me and I smiled. Daleigh had evidently heard my exclamation, and hadn't liked it one bit. _**

****

"**_Oh come on Allie, you know I need to get Kez to her house for the wedding! The sooner we get there the better off we'll be." Well I guess that would explain why he said the "f" word and it would explain why he was traveling with two ladies but still! Couldn't he have just been escorting me and my "adopted" sister to our ailing mother? I would definitely make the suggestion when we were traveling on our own again. _**

"**_Um sir you wouldn't mind me asking but she isn't um…" He trailed off and gazed pointedly at my stomach. I looked down curiously at my stomach also and then the realization hit and I blushed ten million shades of red. Did I look pregnant to him?! Come on, I wasn't the skinniest girl around, I knew that but pregnant?! That was going a little bit far, no? I glared up at the guy and he looked taken aback._**

"**_Do I look pregnant to you?! Seriously now! Jeez whatever happened to marriage before that kind of thing?!" His eyes popped open to the size of dinner plates and I guess he hadn't expected the GIRL to answer. Well to bad I didn't care right now! He thought I was pregnant for crying out loud! _**

"**_S…Sorry mam it's always possible though." I narrowed my eyes dangerously and was about to reply when a hand on my shoulder stopped me yet again. I looked back and guess what, it was Caleb. I took a deep breath and my anger slowly faded away just leaving me more tired than before. I needed to calm down, just an innocent question. What Caleb said kinda hinted something anyway. Why else would someone need to get _**

**_married in such a rush? Again, definitely needed to talk to Caleb about that. _**

"**_It's alright, but no she's not pregnant nor will she be for probably a while. Her mother is simply not faring well and she wanted her mother to be at the wedding." I had the urge to roll my eyes. Now he plays the ill mother card, after I'm already a fiancé. Perfect, way to go Caleb, you have wonderful timing. The blush was still on my face and I was so glad that it was too dark to see it. I would never live that down. _**

"**_Speaking of which we're probably going to have to wake up early, I wouldn't want to miss my mom!" I added some sniffles to it, and wiped my "tears" with my sleeve. I felt a hand on my arm and the hair on my neck stood on end, hmm wonder who THAT could be? _**

"_**Come on you better get some sleep then. Goodnight everyone." I heard a few mumbled goodnights and Daleigh gave a deep curtsey, and I could just sense the sarcasm behind the action. Five minutes later and I was practically unconscious in my sleeping bag. **_

_**I opened my eyes groggily and a gasp left my throat. I really needed to work on sleeping lighter or something! Evidently my group and I hadn't done such a good job on acting as I thought, that or these guys were the good actors. There was a knife to my throat, Caleb and Daleigh were tied to a tree, and the rest of the men were around the clearing, swords and bows in hand. It makes the saying "Be careful what you wish for" spring to mind doesn't it? I looked up at the guy and sighed "What are you doing?" Evidently he was surprised by the calm in my face and I bit my tongue to hold back a snort at a guy **_

_**who had dropped his dagger. Not the best trained guys but was I really in the position to be judging? I was the idiot who had slept through the entire thing, well most of it! **_

_**The guy slipped on a calm face again and used his left hand to motion a guy from the small militia behind him. The guy pulled, whoever he was, out something and stepped forward. And when he did I groaned in frustration. Looks like my dad had packed a dagger in my bag, a dagger with a gold hilt. Two things wrong with that, most ladies couldn't afford a gold dagger, and two most ladies who could wouldn't WANT a dagger to begin with! I would've hit myself in the forehead if you know I was sure a dagger wouldn't cut into my throat the moment after. Instead I looked up at the guy and made a look of indifference. **_

"_**Okay, so what? I have a dagger big deal." Unfortunately that just earned me a glare and the dagger at my neck getting held a little closer to my neck. Any further and it would cut skin. **_

"_**I would hold your attitude if you want to keep your head, we don't treat thieves well here." **_

"_**Would you leave her alone?!" Out of the corner of my eye I could see Caleb struggle on the ropes but to no avail. He was bound tightly and if he kept this up the only thing he was going to get was a knife. **_

"_**Caleb stay out of this! You're just going to get all three of us killed!" Daleigh whispered sharply and I thanked her silently. I didn't doubt the man for a second when he said he would kill me. **_

__

"_**Don't worry you two will both get your turn, but the girl was the one with the knife, she's the leader of the group, and so we're going to deal with her first." **_

" _**Well how about I make you a deal?" **_

_**He laughed very loudly and I couldn't blame him. "You're in no position to make a deal right now sweet heart." Now it was my turn to smile, I had a plan up my sleeve but I would have to be quick. I took a deep breath steadying myself; it wouldn't do to be overly nervous right now. **_

_**With a quick motion I lifted my leg and kicked the guy in a place no guy wants to be kicked. The knife in his hand cut my skin but it was a light scratch. I ignored the warmth sliding down my neck now and swept his feet out from under him and bounced to my feet. The dagger slipped out of his hand as he landed roughly on the ground and I grabbed it as quickly as I could. Now I was on top and he had the knife to his neck, I wasn't going to kill him, no if I did that all three of us would be killed in a heartbeat. I needed him alive and I needed him to take the deal. **_

_**I looked around the group, two arrows were ready to be shot and I knew they would be aimed right at me. The other men had their swords ready and I could see them glittering menacingly from the few streaks of light that snuck through the canopy. The whole forest was strangely quiet and it seemed that everything was holding its breath. Waiting, listening, watching every move. I heard another chuckle but this one was more sarcastic. I was stunned but I didn't let it show as I looked back down to the man below me. Why was he laughing? **_

__

"_**I guess I shouldn't have underestimated my opponent even if they were a girl. Well played I must say." I could see mouths open and I was suspicious that mine may have matched. He was congratulating me… on catching him off guard and holding a knife to his neck. Well okay I may have acted calm when he had done this to me but complimenting me? **_

_**I quickly smoothed out any shock and said "Okay now it looks like I AM in the position to make a deal." **_

"_**Aye it does, doesn't it?" **_

"_**All I want is to duel you, one on one. Have your men lay down their weapons and if I win all three of us go free. If I lose you let those two go free and you can do whatever with me." I heard to very pronounced (and angered, very much angered) "what?"S from Daleigh and Caleb but ignored them. If I did lose they would have to complete the mission without me, they needed to save my brother if I lost.**_

"_**Now why would I let those two go if I won?" **_

"_**Simply because like you said I'm the leader of our group, and because I'm the one holding the knife to your neck right now." He now stared right at me and I knew he was trying to read me, trying to see whether or not to take it. He had to take the deal! **_

"_**Okay. Men you heard the lady put down your weapons and give her, her sword and hand me mine." The men opened their mouths to protest and I hoped they wouldn't talk him out of it. "No buts guys, unless you want a headless captain?" He bobbed his head a little at the knife to get the point across and all the men dropped their weapons and began scrambling to get the order **_

_**done. They may not have liked his choice but they trusted him, even someone blind could see they all respected each other. My own eyes flickered over to my team and I bit my lip. Was I leading them the best way? Was I really up to this job or had I led them to a death trap just because I was stubborn and blinded by my ambition to save my brother? **_

_**Had I let my pride blind me? Surely the men at the castle weren't the best in the land, Caleb was proof of that but was he the exception or the rule? That maybe the men I had always fought weren't that good that there were thousands of people actually stronger, better? Did I even really deserve to lead them? I had gotten them into this mess hadn't I? No we had come this far, I wouldn't let this be the end, not for them, not for my brother. No matter what those three would get through this alive. **_


	14. Hold on

_**One of the men walked cautiously up to us, two swords in hand. He stopped a few feet away, unsure. I stood up straight pulling the knife away and stepped back a few steps, I wasn't going to do anything stupid. The guy reassured tossed me my sword and then used his now free hand to help his leader (I really needed a name!) to his feet. The guy rubbed his neck and then took his sword. He gave the other man a reassuring pat on the back and then turned to face me. I got my sword ready in my hand and every muscle in my body automatically tensed. **_

"_**Wait I got to know the name of the lass I'm fighting and it's not Allie or Kez so don't even try." **_

"_**Well if I told you my name then my dear sir we would be on unfair ground don't you think? You never did tell me yours, fake or real alike." **_

_**He smiled and looked over at Caleb. I felt a bubble of anger, why wasn't he looking at me? Did he not consider me that much of a threat? Were my fears right and the reason I had bested him in the first place due just to surprise? "Now I see why you like the girl so much, most girls now days care more about what color they look best in, No sane guy could keep a conversation with a one of them for more than an hour! Don't let this one get away lad." **_

"_**Hello, still here and breathing! Would you mind? You may think we're thieves but we do have a time limit that we're trying to beat." I never did like people talking about me like I wasn't here, plus Caleb was just making up some crazy story, he didn't actually care about me THAT way, he couldn't. Could he? Ugh whatever, so not the time to think about it. **_

"_**Okay, ladies first." Now I did roll my eyes. What's with guys and being sexist all the time? **_

"_**Fine, a choice I'm going to make sure you regret." I looked him over for a moment, and then that's when I realized. All I had to do was play by his same crazy rules. The way he had thrown me off guard by laughing I would throw him off guard! How? Well I haven't really gotten there yet but I'm working on it! Till then I ran straight at him my sword raised and ready. He crouched down into a defense position, waiting for my move. I picked up the pace and when I was just a few feet away I slid to the ground. Dust billowed up in a great cloud and I was now behind him, whoever him was. Before he could comprehend my trick I stuck my leg up and kicked him as hard as I could. **_

_**He stumbled forward and landed on his stomach. I heard the groans of the men around me and I smiled, so far so good. The guy rolled and I hopped to my feet, ready for action. He did the same and before I could blink he was running at me with surprising speed. I saw a bright flash of silver and raised my sword as quickly as I could. A loud crash reverberated throughout the clearing and my skin crawled from the impact. He pulled away quickly and the attack went on. I had to move with all my speed to dodge the parries as they seemed to come with ever increasing speed. Where was this guy getting all the energy? **_

_**The second I took to think that I felt a hot pain in my shoulder and I a low hiss left my lips. These were definitely not dull swords; the warmth I felt running down my arm was proof of that. I bit my lip and kicked the guy back with all my might. He fell back a few steps, panting slightly, but he was in better condition than I was. I tightened my grip on my sword and braced myself as the man came back, a strip of red now appearing on his blade. I could feel anger, and adrenaline pump through my veins as I another echo of metal on metal filled the forest. In my subconscious I could hear the sound of birds squawking and voices saying something but for the most part it all was tuned out. All that existed was the man, and his blade moving with such ferocity it seemed alive. I stood my ground though and just when he was about to dive in for another attack, "My name is Sakira!" His blade faltered for a second in his swing and I used it to duck under his blade my back to him. I grabbed his wrist and pulled down so he fell over my back and right onto the ground. I heard a soft 'whoosh' as his breath escaped him. I put one knee on his back and twisted the arm in my hand till it was trapped to his back. My sword went to his neck and I could see his hair go on end. **_

"_**I win." His breathing stopped and I realized with a start, he thought I was going to kill him. It would be the thing a thief would do without hesitation, but as we all know I wasn't a thief. I removed my sword and flopped backwards on the ground so I was sitting, well rather laying on my elbows. I was utterly exhausted, but I had won. That was all that mattered right now, that I was one obstacle closer to my brother. I could feel stares pointed at me but I ignored them. They weren't hostile stares, just confused at why I had let their captain live. The captain himself rolled and sat on the ground and then for no apparent reason we both started laughing. Maybe we had gone insane during the battle? I didn't know and I was too tired to care. **_

"_**Well played lass, I must say. That was the best fight I've had in a while! I have to apologize though, I greatly misjudged you. No thief would've let me live like that, especially after all I had put you through. How can I make it up to you?" I smiled **_

"_**You could start by telling me your and your men's names. This entire thing I've been thinking of you as 'the man' and it's gotten really annoying." He laughed a deep, loud laugh and I raised an eyebrow confused. **_

"_**I guess I should've expected an odd request from you but I'll honor it none-the-less but first…men cut down her companions and un-gag them too." I looked over shocked, sure enough there was a piece of crude material tied over their mouths. Ohps, I guess I should've realized earlier that they were being a little too quiet. **_

"_**No you guys can leave on the gags. It's quite refreshing actually." I went to stand up but when I put pressure on my arm the pain from my cut seeped through my adrenaline rush. I feel back down with a wince and I felt a hand on my back almost immediately, laying me gently on the ground. A hot pain flashed to my mind and I bit my lip to keep from crying out. **_**I'm going to live, I've had worse. I'm going to live, don't you dare cry out! **_** Kept repeating over and over in my head, like an endless tune. I felt a soft, cool pressure on my arm and I couldn't bite back the moan that escaped. **_

_**Everything seemed to be getting farther away and I fought to focus on the sea of voices around me, clinging to them like a life line. **_

"_**Is she alright?"**_

"_**She's lost a lot of blood."**_

"_**Hold on, Kira. Hold on." There was a sharp ripping sound as someone ripped off some cloth. I felt another pressure on my arm but this one was a cold liquid that dulled the pain a little bit. Suddenly a burning sensation, bigger than all the others filled every sense I had. I slipped into the blackness gratefully. **_


	15. Most call her Mattie

Hey guys I know I don't normally add an A/N but my mom just told me soom news. She was diagnosed with breast cancer on Tuesday. They caught the tumour in really early stages so she has like a 90 chance of living but she's still going to have to go through radiation and surgery, maybe even chemo if it actually is more developed then they first thought. I just wanted to ask my readers to help pray for her right now. She probably will live but she's going to be going through a lot these next couple of weeks and maybe the rest of her life. Thanks guys and on with the story.

* * *

It was the weirdest sensation. I could hear voices over me, talking but it was like it was some foreign language. I couldn't understand a thing not to mention I could feel my arms, my legs, but I couldn't bring myself to move them, like they were someone else's to control and if you think that's weird try living it! I felt a pressure on my arm and suddenly a burning sensation snapped me out of whatever I had been under. Hey I don't know what to call it, out of body experience, shock, who knows. My hand clinched at my side and I bit my lip instinctively. Someone pried my mouth open and suddenly ugh I so wanted to spit it out! Yeah it was that nasty.

I was actually planning on doing just that when suddenly someone plugged my nose. To say the least I was kinda surprised, this of course made me swallow the goop in my mouth and start choking. I sat upright suddenly, coughing violently as I tried to catch my breath. Whoever made me swallow that nasty GOOP was so going down. The pain in my arm though DID seem to be getting better, but still was causing me to nearly choke to death really necessary, or did people just really like torturing me and seeing how annoyed I could get? My coughs slowed down enough to where I could open my eyes and guess who I find. If you guessed Daleigh and Caleb then you would be wrong my dear friends.

In reality it was someone I had never seen before in my entire life. To say I was kind of freaked would be the understatement of the year. Actually I was so freaked I jumped and landed on my bad arm, causing the pain to once again flare with a passion. "Ouch, idiot, idiot, idiot!" I rolled quickly over to my other side muttering idiot at least thirty for times. My vocabulary had pretty much just sunk to that word to tell the truth and get this the lady started cackling, not laughing like a regular person, but actually cackling like all those witches in stories and stuff. My day had just gotten ten times weirder and I had a feeling it was just going to get worse.

"Oh my dear chicken, I wouldn't do that if I were you. That cut of yours was pretty deep, sweet. I gave you some medicine to help the pain a little bit chick-a-pea but it won't make the pain go away completely!" She started laughing more again, like she was sharing some hilarious joke that I had obviously missed the punch line on. I raised an eyebrow; yeah I was right it did get much weirder. "Oh I'm sorry, where are my manners? It has been forever since someone's stopped by but that's not an excuse!"

She clicked her tongue slowly and started shaking her head slowly, before a smile once again claimed her face. "Well my dear I'm Matilda Heraway, but most just call me Mattie. Oh and your friends! Their just upstairs, I told 'em I'd tell 'em when you woke up. Had to beat 'em out of here with a broom practically. Causing such a ruckus! They were gonna wake you up and cause a high bit of trouble, they were. A bunch of other gentlemen, Captain Banter and his boys, good bunch of lads they are, helped get you here but unfortunately they had to leave. Had to get back to their wives and kids you know, back to the nearby village. They're the ones that practically keep things running in these parts. The thieves used to be a big problem around here but not anymore. If I remember right you're the first one to beat Bentley but you're gonna have a nice gash for a keepsake. Yup I'm sure as the day is long on that one." She smiled proudly at her sentence and there was a young, youthful twinkle in her eyes that contradicted her dark grey hair entirely and would make anyone want to smile along with her. The lady probably wouldn't even hurt a fly if she could help it.

"Well okay now, I'll go get your friends. Just call me if they cause to much a trouble and I'll get my broom to their rear ends, just see if I don't!" I laughed and she winked, the corners of her eyes wrinkling up at the edges with mirth. She patted my leg and stood up slowly before walking slowly out a wooden door right behind her. I took the time to take a look at my surroundings.

The walls were an off-cream white that actually looked pretty good with the mahogany wooding around the edges. The floor I noticed was actually compacted dirt and I stared at it curiously. The floors in my home had always been either cherry wood or stone. A shadow flitted across the floor and I looked above the bed I was on to see light filtering through a window. I tried to sit up, to see what the outside looked like, but whatever Mattie had given me had left me tired. I laughed a little when I remembered scheming the demise of whoever had poured that vile stuff down my throat. That just wasn't going to work out very well now, now was it?

I heard some pounding footsteps the next second and I braced myself ready for the explosion. The door swung open and Daleigh stood there for a second before running and crouching down the bed. Geez she looked like a kid right before Christmas! It's not like… oh crap how long had I been out? "Hey Day would you mind telling me exactly how long I've been out?" I saw Caleb step into the doorway and smile.

"Not very long actually, just enough time for us to find Mattie and drag your heavy self over here." I stuck my tongue out at him and he smirked before closing the door behind him with his foot.

"Oh don't listen to him. He was the one that had to be chased off with the broom! Always pacing around in here, asking when if you were going to be alright, blah, blah, blah. The guy seriously needed to relax, but nooooo." Caleb winced at the memory and I started laughing. Poor Caleb got hurt by an old lady with a broom; come on you would find it funny too!

"You wouldn't be laughing if you were on the receiving end, that lady has some serious strength when she wants!"

"Keep telling yourself that Caleb, whatever helps you sleep at night." I smiled evilly; can you say oh I don't know… black mail for life?

"Tell anyone about this Princess and you will never speak again."

"A Princess? Where? Daleigh I don't see a princess around here do you?"

"No I don't think I do, I see one idiot who got beat up by an old lady and another idiot who seems to like seeing how much trouble she can get into." She glared pointedly down at me, with a look that could probably stop a cougar in its tracks. I looked around and then put on a who-me look. Unfortunately Daleigh's humor had run out and this was the part where the worry and sympathy turns into 'I'm gonna kill you myself if you ever worry me like that again.' Maybe Daleigh was bipolar? I looked to Caleb for support and once again luck seemed to be against me. His arms were crossed over his chest and he was giving me the same look as Daleigh.

"Oh come on don't look at me like that! It's a cut, nothing serious! I'm alive aren't I? Well okay maybe that won't last much longer with the looks you're giving me, seriously if looks could kill….uhm, uhm, uhm."

"Can't you be serious for right now? You could've gotten killed! And what was that back in the woods? Challenging Captain Banter to a duel?! And your conditions! If you lose we go but you lose your life? What in the blue world was going on through your head? Do you really think we would've allowed that?" I could see the anger in her eyes and quite honestly now I was getting mad too.

"I had a reason! I didn't think I was going to win okay? I had to make sure someone would rescue my brother and you guys could've done it! I had to make sure you guys lived because if I didn't keep you guys alive and I did, well how could I be a fit leader, friend, or even maybe a future queen? I couldn't! What is a leader or a friend without someone to lead, or someone to befriend? If a leader didn't respect the lives of others then eventually they'll end up with nothing and I refuse to do that. So what was going through my mind was you guys needed to keep on living, even if it meant I didn't." Holding back the tears was giving me a major migraine but tears just weren't so I kept on holding them back.

"Do you really think we could do this without you? It was your crazy idea in the first place that we're even here!" Caleb was getting in on it now, and I think somehow he managed to be even more intimidating then Daleigh. Not that that mattered much to me right now.

"Exactly! It was my crazy idea that you guys are in this much trouble! It'll be my entire fault if you guys die! Do you really think I want that on my shoulders?!"

"You keep thinking you're going to mess up, what about if you succeed? Whether you believe it or not you were born to lead. Your little speech back there proves it. I need you Kira; we both do and even if you don't want to be you're stuck with us now. We're not going anywhere without you with us."

"We would follow you anywhere Sakira, that's what friends do for each other. Don't push us away because you're afraid we might get hurt because pushing away is hurting us. Maybe not in the same way as what you're thinking but hurting all the same. If you don't were just going to have to tie a rope around you and drag you the rest of the way and something tells me you wouldn't like that very much so if I were you I would stop worrying so much and just get over it. It'll be so much easier for you."

The door swung open all of the sudden and everyone jumped at the sudden movement. Mattie bounds in with a large wooden tray, a tea pot and different cups lying precariously on the top.

"Who wants tea? It's my special recipe passed down from my great- great- great- great- great grandma Pea. Made it up all herself she did, she did and been passed down daughter to daughter ever since. My great- great- great grandma had seven sons before she got a daughter to pass down the recipe too but she finally did it and then the crazy ol' daughter didn't even learn the recipe. Nope, it was her fifth son who learnt it and passed it down! My great- great- great grandma probably was rolling in her grave with frustration. The younger daughter went off to become a circus bunny trainer."

"Wait a circus bunny trainer?" I asked with a raised brow. If Mattie had been going for a distraction from our argument it had definitely worked, Daleigh and Caleb's anger had slipped just like mine had and was replaced by a odd mixture of curiosity and amusement at such an odd story.

"Yup and a great one too, till one of the rabbits turned rabid on her. She could never look at another bunny again and since then the whole thing just kinda fell apart. Now who wants some tea? Got to drink it before it gets cold or it just turns downright nasty tasting." She handed out the cups and poured some steamy, green liquid into the cup. It looked like it might be tea, and it smelled like it could be tea but ever since that little vile goop trick I wasn't holding much stock in it. Evidently Caleb and Daleigh had no precautions like mine though. They both took a sip and I had to bite back a laugh as I saw them both gag at the same time. Ah isn't it nice when paranoia pays off sometimes?

They had pained expressions on as they hurriedly swallowed Mattie's "concoction" and put on a bright fake smile.

"Your right it's absolutely delicious! Oh Kira you haven't seemed to have any. You must try it." Caleb winked at me and if Mattie wasn't grinning so happily at the compliment I would've socked Caleb upside the head and bolted, bad arm or no.

"I'm not sure if I could, we should be leaving soon. My mother isn't doing too well, and I need to be there beside her not to mention my father would be devastated if I didn't show up in my family's time of need like this." Mattie's grin faded and I knew something was up instantly.

"I'm sorry dear but I don't know if your arm will be up for the trip. It was rather small cut in size but it was pretty deep and it cut through a pretty nice sized blood vein." Suddenly my heart was seized with panic. I couldn't stay here for that much longer. Who knew how much time my brother had before they get tired of waiting for the offer to get him back?

"No you don't understand. I have to leave soon, my b… mother doesn't have much time! I have to get to her before it's too late!" Mattie bit her lip and I could see a distant look come to her eyes. She looked up almost as soon but this time there was worry in her eyes.

"Well dear then the only thing I can do is stitch up your arm and dress it as best as I can. That means no sword fighting and if you absolutely must, you have to use your other arm. You can't risk bursting the stitches and causing even more damage. I'm also afraid it might hurt a good bit. That was the last of my muggart weed that I gave you. You would have to do it without any numbing." I closed my eyes and sighed. It would hurt to high Heaven but if it was the only way…

" As soon as you can do it I'll be up for it." I said with way more confidence then I felt.


	16. Just a tiny cut!

"Ahhh!" My scream was dulled slightly the small piece of cloth in my mouth and my eyes winced shut. Mattie was NOT kidding when she said it was going to hurt was she? I felt tears stinging at the edge of my eyes.

"Don't you think this would've been easier if she had been knocked out?"

"No Caleb, I kinda already asked her. Sakira might go into shock if she passed out again, now shush! Mattie needs to focus!"

"Hey guys talk to me, anything youch, to get my mind off the eoww, ugh you get the idea." I tried to give them a reassuring smile but I had a strong feeling it turned out to be more of a grimace.

"Will all of you just be quiet? I'm almost done!" I heard her mumble under her breath "Young kids now-n-days. Can't keep those big traps of theirs shut for five seconds." I risked a glance at Mattie and my face immediately turned six shades green. Oh I was so going to barf, not only had the pain INCREASED when I looked at the stupid thing of a cut but I couldn't get the picture of… you know what I'm not even going into details.

I squeezed my eyes shut trying to knock the memory from my brain. Go away memory, just go away, happy place, must find happy place. Yeah that would be great except I don't really have a happy place! The sight of Mattie's needle came back into my mind and I pushed it to furthest recess of my mind. Well since I don't have a happy place to go to, now would be a very good time to start. I thought of different scenes I had heard in tales before. A beach with pearl white sand, water that looked like the truest of sapphires, and the sun blazing like… nope not that one, the knight had unfortunately chosen blood red for an adjective. You can understand the dilemma with that one.

Okay next contestant, next was… a field of green grass, a soft breeze blowing the stalks from side to side like the rolling of an ocean. Yeah this could work.

"Ouch!" I nearly jumped, well there goes that plan. Whoosh.

"Sorry little plum, I have to tie off the end or all that work will be for nothing. It'll only take a second, yes indeed so just calm down. You tensing like this it's only going to make it worse! There, there, okay. One, two, almost through! There we're all done! Just have to dress it, and tada!"

I let out a sigh of relief, it hurt, oh Billy did it hurt but it was over! That was worth a party in itself!

"Caleb I'm going to need you to grab her other arm." My head snapped back to Mattie so fast I was kind of surprised I didn't get a whiplash. "Sorry dear but I have to put some alcohol on this wound. You have a long, hard journey ahead of you and if this gets infected you won't make it, not in the best condition anyway, nope. And you're going to have to not use this arm for a while. You could break the stitches again, and well you lost a lot of blood the first time, and it was just pure luck your friends found me the first time. Lean back dear and try to relax. It'll be over quickly." I leant back and tried to at least calm my breathing. Caleb came over, an apologizing look in his eyes. This time I made sure to give him the best reassuring smile I could muster, and actually made sure it was an actual smile. The worst part is over Kira, just a little alcohol no problem, you've had worse. Caleb's overly large hand wrapped around mine and as soon as it did there was a splash of coolness on my arm.

It didn't last very long because before long the coolness had turned into burning. I clamped my mouth shut with all of my strength and every muscle in my body was tensed to the extreme. A sharp hiss escaped my lips and I put all of my will power to keep from shouting. Lucky me though that left no willpower left to keep my HAND from doing anything, I struggled against Caleb's hold trying to do something to stop the burning.

His arm didn't seem so comforting anymore, now it was a restraint and I really did not like that. Something cold was put against my arm and I stopped for a second, praying with all my might this wasn't going to start burning too. And you know what, my prayer was heard. This was thicker than the alcohol had been and whatever it was cooled the burning left behind. My arms relaxed and Caleb, feeling it, reluctantly loosened the grip on my wrist. I felt a breath next to my ear and I could feel the hair on my neck stand on end. "Relax it's over now. You gonna live or do I need to go find a mortician?" I smiled and opened my eyes. Caleb was smiling slightly too now but you could still see some worry in his eyes.

I thought for a second, got it! I let out a sharp gasp "Oh no, the light! It's coming closer, oh so close! Oh no whatever shall I do?!" I made a, probably very overdramatic, last gasp before lolling my head to the side and sticking out my tongue. Oh if stepmother could see me now, she would have a heart-attack. Actually she would probably faint dramatically, like was the "proper" thing to do in such a situation, and then reprimand me on my behavior by saying no man would want to marry such a woman with such bad behaviors.

I cracked an eye open just in time to see Caleb role his eyes at Daleigh, who might I add, was trying, horribly, to hide a giggle behind her hand. I opened my eyes with a flourish and looked around "mystified".

"Is this Heaven? I guess my poor, feeble, defenseless, innocent, angelic, and so abused, body couldn't take the pain of a tiny little cut." I heard someone scoff and I looked over shocked. Mattie, Mattie scoffed. Well I guess there was a first time for everything huh?

"Tiny little cut, sugar cake it didn't sound like a little cut when I was stitching you up. I can faintly remember someone screaming over said 'little cut', is she always like this?"

"Not you too! Jeez you guys wipe the insults onto sweet Mattie now?"

"Trying not to make us worry and brushing off things like their no big problem, yeah that's her to the core." Daleigh added, completely ignoring me.

"Well fine then, it may be a little bigger than that and it does hurt. I was trying to ignore it but someone had to bring it up!" I glared at Daleigh and Caleb in turn making sure they got the message. Of course Daleigh's going to start smiling in 3…2…1… oh I am good. "Daleigh turn off the smile, it's blinding."

"Now was it too hard to admit that you might actually hurt, and need some help with it? Here say it with me 'I'm hurt, do you think you could just go a little bit out of your way and help me?' see it's not that hard, now you say it."

"Daleigh may you please go out of your way and get me some water so I can pour it over you?" I put on a fake smile, and gave her big puppy eyes. She rolls her eyes but she turns to leave anyway, I open my mouth to protest but she just glared at me over her shoulder. Jeez she's known me for too long.

"Here dearie, I have just the herb! It'll keep the infections down, it will!" Mattie said before scurrying off after Daleigh.

I sighed "Next you're going to leave me saying I need a blanket before I freeze to death like some helpless girl." I look up at Caleb grudgingly and he puts his hand to his chin like he's thinking about it. I hit him with my good arm but my lips curve upwards anyway. And he smiles too, well before putting on a serious face. Here we go, again.

"Is that why you do this? You don't want to be thought of as some defenseless girl? Last time I checked most girls didn't go off in a rush and risk life and limb to save their brothers. No if you really want to be a defenseless girl I suggest the ever popular fainting act whenever you break a nail, or screaming when 'a bug gives you a fright'" He used a weird "female" voice on the last part and I laughed.

"Oh jeez sounds wonderful. Have some experience in that department do you?"

"Oh yeah you wouldn't believe the number of brainless clones I run into. They all think I'll propose to them the second I see their 'glorious beauty' and hear their parroted words. At least I don't have to worry about that with you huh?" I shrug and wince as the action reminds me off that cursed wound. He frowns and I look at the floor, I didn't like making others do things for me, I had feet and hands I could do it myself! I moved my arm again and winced, or maybe not. I sighed exasperated, I felt useless, completely useless. "When you passed out, I thought I was going to lose you." Shocked I looked up at him and my heart skipped a beat. His eyes they, no he didn't like me like that. He didn't like me like that, my stomach felt sick suddenly and I had to look away. I was a friend to him.

I would always be just a friend to him. My mind went back to Evan at the camp, talk about irony. The one guy I wanted the least to like me was the one that wanted to marry me and then I finally, actually like a guy and nope, nada. My stepmom would have a ball if she heard, heck she would probably already have a wedding dress planned and the invitations sent! I heard a laugh and I looked back to Caleb, what?

"What?!" Oh pure genius, I really need to work on that.

"Your face was making quite the array of weird expressions. I think disgust, sardonic humor, and an I-think-I'm-about-to-be-sick look. The last one was priceless." I could just feel my face turn blood red. I hadn't said anything out loud had I? Oh crap it would be just the kind of thing that would happen to me too! "You're doing it again. My advice, never gamble, you would lose the kingdoms fortune in a millisecond. What were you thinking about though?" You.

"You" My eyes widened and my, good, hand flew to my mouth. It had to be something Mattie gave me. Oh I was so going to die! He looked at me in shock and I quickly diverted my eyes. I was never going to live this down, I was going to die or hide behind a rock the rest of my life.

"Sorry I disgust you then, I can leave." My eyes focused back to his and even though he was hiding it I could see the pain. How in the world did he think I was disgusted about him? Oh, oh no.

"NO! It wasn't you! It was something else." My voice trailed off on the end and I was caught. I couldn't lose him now, but if I told him what I was thinking about I would scare him off! How could I win this?! What option was worse? I bit my lip and I looked down at the dirt ground. What was the better option?

"You don't have to lie, I'll get my stuff." His voice had a biting edge to it and I felt tears sting my eyes. He couldn't seriously believe that!

"It wasn't you I promise! I was thinking about…I was thinking about Evan! I was thinking that I might like you, and how my mother would freak if she found out, and how you're now going to leave anyway because I probably freaked you out and…" I never finished my sentence because my mouth had currently been blocked, by Caleb's lips against mine.


	17. What to do?

_**My mind totally shut down. Like the circuit breaker had just flip! Off. Somehow my good arm had found its way around his neck and I found myself kissing him back. He liked me, to say the least I was kind of shocked. I wasn't the prettiest girl out there that's for sure and obviously I wasn't the most skilled person out there. Have you seen my dancing?! Clear the area, weapon of mass destruction on the loose! No joke my brother dared me to only step on 20 nobles' feet one time, I smacked him upside the head and then continued my way on stepping on 23 different feet. Poor guys wore ice in their shoes the next day, and I felt bad for them, well okay I would've if I wasn't laughing so hard at the moment. Jeez I'm weird, getting a first kiss and here I am thinking about those air-headed nobles! Suddenly the door burst open and a breathless Daleigh stepped in. "Look what I found…ooooooooohhhhhh! FINALLY!" My face turned blood red and Caleb took a very quick, very large step away. **_

_**NO!!!!!!! My life is over, over, way over! Hey look a floor how very interesting. You know it was kind of a dirt floor but if you squinted you could see… okay more dirt but um oh look a dust bunny! Why are they called dust bunnies? "Um I really don't know, maybe because they look like fluffy bunny tails?" I could hear the laughter in Daleigh's voice and I could just see Caleb shaking his head. Maybe it would be better if I became a mute? Less embarrassing that way you know. Anyway get out of the present situation… how do I get out of the present situation… ummm. Well I had an idea but oh man this was NOT going to be fun.**_

_**I moved my arm and instead of biting my lip well here "OW! NOT SMART! CRAP!" Daleigh smiled triumphantly for a second before finally realizing I WAS IN PAIN HERE! "Oh right! Drink this! Maddie found some of that numbing stuff!" She rushed over, a cup in her hand, and I registered a really foul smell before the toxic liquid was forced down my throat! Whatever happened to being NICE to the patient?! And Caleb was just standing there! Grrrr. I have bad taste in friends/um whatever Caleb is now. I started choking but the stuff was already down my throat and the after-taste was death! It could've won a platinum medal in a "Worst Taste Ever" contest! I stuck my tongue out and made a gag me sign at Daleigh, sure it was immature but it made me feel sooo much better. **_

_**"Well hey your feeling better aren't you? It's some seriously strong stuff, wonder how Mattie made it. Anyway I asked Mattie when you could leave and she said sleep here tonight and we could take off in the morning. She wants us to stay longer, you know till your fully healed, but she knows it's urgent." I nodded my head, okay all business now, focus! **_

_**"Got it but..." Man I was getting tired! Ugh see this is what happened when I take meds! I get tired! "Daleigh you just had to give me medication didn't you." Another yawn. **_

_**"Oh yeah! Oops, uh sorry?" **_

_**"What happens to her?" Aww Caleb was worried! I could hear someone start to giggle really high pitched, oh wait that was me! Haha. **_

_**"Umm that. She gets really loopy, tired, and extremely out of it. Very entertaining cause you can get her to say 'bout anything. That is till she practically turns into a rock." **_

_**"A rock?" **_

_**"Oh yeah I tried pouring water on her once, you know to wake her up cause I'm just nice like that, but nope! Nada, zilch, didn't even roll over! I was quite impressed really." **_

_**"Haha! Caleb you look so CUTE! Hi Daleigh!" My hand waved and I laughed again. Daleigh got this goofy, evil grin on her face and I smiled up at her. She looked funny with her face like that! **_

_**"Sooo tell me Sakira, were you kissing Caleb when I came in?" I nodded my head vigorously as I smiled. **_

_**"Uhn-huh! Cause I just LOOOOVVVVVEEEE him! He's so funny, and stuff!" Yet another yawn and I could feel my eyes getting heavy. I let out another tired giggle before going back to sleep. **_

_**I put a hand to my forehead and groaned my mind was so foggy! I let my hand fall, frustrated at it, and surprisingly it connected with something hard and furry. What do I know that's hard and furry? **_

_**"Ouch what was that for?" Yeah Daleigh's head worked well. **_

_**"For giving me meds jerk!" I heard her laugh and suddenly I could feel all the colors in my face just fade away. "What in the world did I say?!" Yes I knew I said weird things when I was out of it like that, Daleigh liked her black-mail. She laughed harder and a sense of dread felt like a rock in my gut. "Daleigh, please say I didn't do anything stupid oh please say I didn't do anything stupid." **_

_**"Well okay I didn't do anything stupid." **_

_**"You know what I meant Daleigh." **_

_**"Yup I did but I don't feel like lying." **_

_**"Thanks Daleigh you're the best, you make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Now please tell me what I said." **_

_**"Nothing really, just that you think Caleb was cute, you LOOOOVVVVVEEEE him, oh and that you kissed Caleb. Evidently you like talking about the guy, must be head over heels huh?" **_

_**"And he heard every word too." **_

_**"Yup, loud and clear!" I groaned again and hit Daleigh on the head again. "Ouch hey!" **_

_**"That wasn't a question Daleigh and you're not helping!" **_

_**"Well if it's any better it's night out and he's asleep, I was too until you so kindly hit me over the head and woke me up! You would know that if you have opened your eyes at all, speaking of which what in the world are you doing?" **_

_**"Pretending to be dead, you know the whole you can't see me, I can't see you thing." **_

_**"Right, well tell me how that works I'm going back to sleep. Hit me again your dead." I smiled a little, Daleigh wasn't a night person. Unfortunately that left me wide awake, and alone. I rolled onto my good side and tried to see if I could sleep but knew it was useless. This stunk. I sat up on the bed carefully trying to see if I could escape without waking anyone up. I climbed off the bed gently listening to Daleigh's, quite loud, snoring. **_

_**I blinked a couple of times surprised. There were absolutely no windows, meaning no light, and also meaning I couldn't see the tip of my nose, creepy. I walked to where I remembered the door to be when suddenly hit my foot against something very, very hard. Like Mattie's stone wall hard. "MMM!" I bit my lip and laid my head on the cursed wall. Something hated me. I waited for the pain to subside before very, very carefully continuing my journey to the door. Talk about thief of the night, if this knight thing didn't work out I had future options. I smiled;**_ Well I do already have the cape. _** I could just see my step-mom saying it now 'How improper! None of the other princesses are going around being thieves and knights! Why couldn't you act more like them and not being covered in mud and fighting!' **_

_**I shook my head and felt around for the wood I knew was here…somewhere. I felt the doorknob beneath my hand and I smiled victoriously before twisting the knob and slowly pushing it open. It creaked and I hesitated again listening for Daleigh's, still sounding like a train, snore. It was even and I quickly pushed the door the rest of the way open and got out. The air was cool and I winced as it touched against my cut but I was determined to get out at least for a little while and plus it was starting to feel a little better. I looked up to the sky and like that my attitude was soaring. Outside under the stars was always my refuge. An owl hooted off in the distance and the crickets played their melodies with the experience of a professional. I smiled and spun around on the dewy grass careful to watch my arm. I plopped down with a sigh; my happy bubble was officially burst.**_

How am I going to fight with my arm like this? I barely made it out of the last one without the stupid cut! _** I lay down on the grass and just watched as the stars twinkled above. I closed my eyes and just felt the soft breeze flow over my skin like water. The mournful cry of a wolf sounded from the distance and I wondered if he had been separated from his family like my brother was. I opened my eyes again to see the moon's crescent smile. "Hey mind if I sit down?" I jumped at the sound but nodded my head anyway, might as well get the torture over with sometime, earlier better than later. He sat and we just sat there looking at the stars and listening to everything. I thought it was going to be awkward a weird but it wasn't, it felt safe and my heart skipped a beat. I shouldn't feel like this, what happened to that girl that wanted nothing more than just be a knight, the girl that didn't feel like this for Caleb? What would happen if Caleb got hurt? Just the thought made my heart clench and suddenly I became worried about more than just my cut actually right now that seemed really insignificant. Caleb could easily get hurt or killed on this mission. **_

"_**Did you mean it? I know you weren't really yourself right then but did you mean it?" I rolled my head so I was looking up at him and I shivered. I had meant what I said, or what Daleigh claimed I had said and suddenly I couldn't stand it anymore. It wasn't safe for me or him right now, if this went any further and one of us got hurt. **_

_**I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. I would love him I knew that and I couldn't change it but he shouldn't love me, not now. How could I tell him that though? He wouldn't listen to the truth, he would just say it wouldn't happen. Now was the time I had to make a choice and either way it was going to hurt him. Tears burned my eyes but I wasn't going to let them fall. I would be stronger than that if only for him. But what was I going to do? **_


	18. Truly Insane

"_**Of course I love you! You're like my older brother, always watching out for me. You're one of my best friends." Lie. Lie. Lie. I could see something just be put out in his eyes and I wanted to barf. Why was doing something right. So. Freaking. Hard? I forced a smile on my face and I hoped it didn't look like a grimace again. Thank Heaven above it was too dark to see my face. I rolled focused my attention back up to the stars and I closed my eyes again, but this time it was to try and hold back the moisture. "I wish we could stay like this forever, best friends till the end of time. You know? We just need to get Ryan back." I should've asked if someone had sneaked up and stabbed me, it felt like it. **_

_**"Yeah," His voice sounded dead. **_Your fault. All your fault. _** I'm an idiot. "I had better go to bed, night." His voice wavered in the sentence and I felt another stab. Ouch. **_You deserve it, you put it there. _**I knew that already! I was going insane, I was arguing with myself, and I was losing. **_

_**"Goodnight Caleb." I whispered so soft I knew he couldn't hear. And slowly his feet walked away, and with each step my heart caved a little more. Had I really done the right thing? A door shut and he was gone. My heart felt like it walked away with him. It probably had. "I love you." I whispered again. I opened my eyes and the stars were still there. They were diamonds against a black velvet sky. And a single tear slipped down my cheek, and then the whole dam broke. And I laid there, tears pouring down my face as I sobbed. My vision had gotten so blurry I couldn't see the little pins of light anymore. All I could see was the thick, empty darkness of night, so full, and empty at the same time. **_You deserve it. _** I know. I know. And I cried till I fell asleep, right under that empty night. When did my life get so dang dramatic… **_

_**"Sakira get up. What in red roses made you feel so inclined to sleep out here? Your wound could've gotten infected, you idiot." I winced a little and that stab in my chest seemed to get a little deeper. **_

_**"I know." Daleigh seemed to reel back in shock, like she'd just heard she was going to be turned into a frog or something. **_

"_**You…know? No sarcastic comment about the red roses thing, or some witty logic where you annoyingly twist my words around, or some stupid comment about how you would live and stop acting like your mom? Just… 'I know'?" On any normal day I would've laughed hysterically at her face right now, but now… **_

_**I shrugged. Her mouth fell open and I just got up and walked past her. I began saddling my horse, and every action seemed lifeless even to me. "Get Caleb, we're leaving." My voice sounded no better. I was just lifeless and numb. The memory of Caleb's voice the very same way last night flashed in my head and I winced again. I was so pathetic. I was turning into one of those girls I used to make fun of. How had I even let things go this far? **_You're an idiot, that's why.

Because everybody falls in love.

_**Evidently nothing wanted to agree with me today. Oh snap, I truly am going insane. **_

_**"What." The voice was harsh and cold, and everything just froze. Oh Caleb what had I done? I had ruined everything and I had no idea how to fix it, or even if it should be fixed. Was I doing right or not?! I just wanted to scream! Nothing was going as it was supposed too! I was supposed to rescue my brother and get home and become a knight! I was not supposed to pass out, get ambushed by some forest patrol, or fall in freaking LOVE with Caleb! I was supposed to be the sarcastic, in control, princess, you know the typical. Okay maybe not… **_

"_**It didn't go well did it?" I heard Daleigh whisper and little red alert flags went up. **_

"_**How do you think it went Daleigh?! She told me she loved me like a brother and that she wished we could be **__friends __**forever. It went brilliantly." I had never heard Caleb sound like that before, so angry, and…and hurt. I was THE biggest idiot to ever walk earth. **_

"_**I'm so sorry Caleb." **_

"_**Me too, Day. Come on, let's go." **_

_**I'm sorry guys. Another tear streaked down my face and I wiped it away. Why had I let it go this far? **_

_**The next thing I knew I was in the front again, my hood over my head, the others behind me. I couldn't even remember getting on my horse. I couldn't even remember how long we had been riding. Man I WAS pathetic. **_

_**There was a slow sound of hoof beats and I tensed praying it wasn't Caleb. "Why." It wasn't even a question.**_

"_**Why what Daleigh?" **_

"_**You know perfectly well what." She snapped and I focused directly in front of me. I knew too well what she meant. **_

"_**Please Daleigh…" I trailed off, my voice had wavered and I just wanted to hit myself. **_

"_**You love him, you know it, I know it; the only one that doesn't know it is him! So why didn't you tell him?!" **_

"_**Because what if he gets hurt, or what if I get hurt? It's better he didn't love me at all." **_

"_**You really think he's just going to stop loving you? Did you stop loving him? No! So what makes you think he's going to stop loving you? You truly are an idiot sometimes." With that she slowed back down beside Caleb and I felt utterly alone. **_I know Daleigh and now I'm stuck with it. __

"_**Hey halt there! You have to show your passes to go past into the Algresion land!" Fear spiked through me and I looked back at the others behind me. This was not good. We didn't have any passes and if they decided to search us… well things wouldn't turn out pretty. **_

"_**Run." I heard Caleb whisper, and we did. The horses pounded heavily against the ground as trees flew past. Limbs scratched at my arms and I hissed as one particular branch snagged at my cut. No, I couldn't stop now though. **_

"_**Hey!" The voice called out behind us. I heard a sharp twang and I turned to look back. I felt a sharp pang in my arm and a gasp left my lips. I couldn't feel my arm anymore and I lost balance. I fell hard to the ground and the breath left my lungs in a harsh whoosh. I couldn't breathe. The thump of horses came closer and I couldn't even move. My vision was turning black around the edges and I felt so tired. **_

"_**Sakira!" Caleb shouted and I heard the hooves in front of me stop. No! They had to escape! They had to go and rescue my brother, they had to be safe! Go! The horses feet came closer this time. NO! GO! If only they could hear my thoughts. I heard a thud and suddenly Caleb's face was right over mine. "Kira," A tear rolled down his cheek and I tried to move my arm to brush it away, but my arm wasn't responding. **_

_**I rolled my head to the side and I saw an arrow sticking right through. "Aw come on! And it's even the same arm! Give me a break!" No I could never be typical. And then believe it or not I passed out, again. It must've been a conspiracy. **_


	19. Evan of all people

Okay guys I apologize for the long wait! But it's here now right? Okay calm down, calm down please put away the sharp pointy objects. Hey if you kill me you'll never get the end of the story! See there we go :D enjoy folks we're now hitting the climax of the story, sigh it's just going downhill from here.

* * *

There was a bellowing laugh. Laugh? I was starting to wake up and part of me wished I wasn't. My whole stinking body felt like a bruise. That's what I get for falling off a horse. If I ever find that archer he is so going to regret it! For whatever reason my arm decided to twitch and a small hiss escaped my lips. This was just dandy. I forced my eyes open and surprise, surprise there was exactly no change! No I wasn't blind, I was in a dungeon. Evidently the people who made these things thought light was way over-rated because there was like nothing! I mean obviously the guards had torches to, you know; see but there wasn't even a window to let that little flicker of light through. I wasn't really complaining about that because if they were to feed me they would have to open the door. If they were to feed me… and they would be armed… I wouldn't be… oh hang it all! I huffed and if I wasn't already laying on the ground I probably would've just fallen back in exasperation. Life just loves to torment sometimes huh?

I growled in frustration. Daleigh and Caleb weren't even here! What was this a new sort of torture? If they were hurt… what if it was worse than that? I had to push that thought away, they were alive and I was going to get us out of this mess! Somehow. "Your highness!" The guards exclaimed obviously caught off guard. I could just imagine them sucking in their guts and saluting. Pompous idiots. I couldn't help it a small laugh slipped through my lips at the sight. Yeah I know I'm already going insane, it's not like I had that far to go.

"Just step out of the way, already." This new voice said. I guess "His Highness" Oh man how glad I would be to just get rid of that title! Every time I get called that I feel like I'm doped up on drugs or something.

"But we have direct orders from your father…" silence… cricket, cricket… "Yes sir." I could hear the defeat and I had to admit I was mildly impressed, the guy had a good glare to him to do that. Still though he was obviously some spoiled rotten royal who was used to people giving him what he wanted and never having to sneak around to get it. Boys were allowed to do archery, and combat and so they often took advantage of it, ugh. The door opened and I tried to look as aloof as one could in this kind of situation. Personally I thought I was doing pretty fair till I actually saw the guys face against the torchlight.

"Oh look it's the sweet little cooking wench Kira. Back already?" Okay I didn't care who it was or that my mouth had just been to the floor a few seconds ago. Ignoring everything I stumbled to my feet with as much grace as I could muster, which unfortunately wasn't much, and took one step closer so I was right in his face. Thankfully enough I was only an inch shorter than him, I loved being tall. "Okay first off you did not just call me a wench! Second off if I recall right I kicked your butt last time and even with this messed up arm I could do it again! Thirdly thanks to one of your archers I have this messed up arm! Fourthly whenever would you think it was important to tell me that you were the prince! When you proposed to me when I was supposedly unconscious? Real smooth on that one by the way! Fifthly how dare you kidnap a child! Are you really that low?! And sixthly now that I'm on it how in the world do you think I would EVER marry someone like you!" I took a deep breath after this incredibly long speech but I was still just itching to slap the guy silly. Evan! Evan of all the freaking people in the world! I probably would've slapped him if it weren't for the guards now drawn swords gleaming menacingly in the torchlight.

"You done?"

I glared again "Does it look like I'm done! I won't be done until I see my brother, Daleigh, and Caleb all safe back at my kingdom."

"Done," My mouth was going to start gathering flies anytime now.

"W…what?"

"Daleigh, Caleb, and your brother can all leave. On one condition."

My fists clenched tightly to my sides and my voice was strained as I said "And that would be what exactly?"

"You stay and marry me. You may have ruined that battle for us but with you the war would be over, and I must say I have formed quite the little infatuation with you. You've always been so fiery and passionate." He stepped closer and I stepped back, unfortunately now my back was to the wall both figuratively and literally.

"Yeah passionate about not marrying you," I spat but inside I was scared. He held all the cards, I had nothing and he knew it.

"Ah but you know you will. I control the game now and you know it, I can see it in your eyes." He took one step closer and I scooted to the side. I winced as my side touched another wall. Trapped in a corner, nowhere to run. He smiled and the image of a predator leapt to mind. Had he always been like this? Had I just been so blind? Now I was paying the price. He took another step closer and I could feel the breath on my face. I turned my head away and I heard him chuckle. "What do you say?" I looked towards him once and I knew I lost.

This was it; I had been defeated for the last time. I guess all fairy tales do end with marriages huh, maybe just not happy endings. No, this wasn't a fairy tale though was it? This was my life and this was where I would have to choose how to end it. I looked down at the ground to hide the single tear that was making a wet path down across my nose. "Okay, but please let me say goodbye."

I heard another chuckle "Good choice princess, good choice."

A single guard led me through a corridor, his torchlight seemed like it was spreading shadows against the wall not light. "I'm sorry princess, I would help you if I could but if I do it means sure death. I just had a little one." I looked at him and tried to smile, tried to make it seem like I was alright, but I just couldn't.

"It's alright I understand," But I didn't. Why was Evan doing this to me?! Why couldn't he find someone who loved him in return, not someone who already loved another! I could've laughed, Evan didn't love me he was obsessed with me. All he'd ever known was fighting and war; he probably didn't know what love is.

"You have my support though my lady, I wish you luck. Here is the room." He gave a bow and a wink before leaving. I saw his light fading behind a corner I didn't even remember turning and I sighed. Now I would have to tell them all. I turned to face the door and two guards nodded their heads to me. I took a deep breath.

"Kira!" My brother ran up and wrapped me in a fierce hug and I buried my face in his hair. This would be the last time I would get to see him.

"Hey Ryan I missed you too." He looked up at me and I smiled but inside my heart was breaking. He wasn't the same kid he was before. There was now a scar on his cheek and the playful light in his eyes had dimmed a little and was replaced by a look of someone who had seen too much of the real world. I'm sure by now that at least was similar.

"Sakira!" Daleigh came running up and giving me a massive hug too, where she had been that she was so slow on the drawl I have no idea. At least they were both careful of my arm.

"Where's Caleb?"

I heard a groan in the back of the cell and I looked at Daleigh frantically. "Is he alright? What happened?" It was dark in this cell too and I had no idea what was going on.

"Don't worry Sakira he kinda got knocked out but sounds like he's waking up now."

"Thanks for the concern Daleigh, your wonderful."

Daleigh snorted "Yeah well if you have enough breath in ya to talk about me then you're not dying yet."

"Hey stop fighting and settle down, I have some good news guys!" I tried to put on a cheery tone but I don't think anyone was really fooled.

"What is it?" Ryan seemed skeptic like he wasn't sure if it really was good or me just trying to lighten it up.

"I convinced the prince to let you all go back home!" I tried to keep the emphasis away from the fact that I wouldn't be going with them.

"Really we're going home?!" He sounded so hopeful and happy again, I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah kid you're finally going to get home." By now my eyes had somewhat adjusted to the dark and I ruffled his hair playfully. I heard a small shuffle and I could only guess that it was Caleb, probably trying to stand.

"You're not going with us though are you?" Caleb said more of a statement than a question. The entire dungeon seemed to go dead silent.

"No," I whispered "I'm not,"

"Evan said the only way he would let us go was if you agreed to marry him right?" Again it was another statement, and I didn't even care how he knew about that right now.

"Yes,"

"And so like the idiot you are you just agreed with it because you have to be the hero and not care an ounce about yourself! What were you thinking Sakira?!"

I winced and the tears poured faster from my eyes. Couldn't she see this was hard enough?! Why was she making this so much harder?!

"Daleigh stop it, we're not going to change her mind." I heard sobs and I knew Daleigh was crying.

"Don't Daleigh, don't cry. I have to do this. It's for all of you guys! I'll be alright."

"Ryan please go talk to Daleigh. I need to talk to your sister." And then I felt warm arms wrap around me and all the tears broke loose. Caleb.

"Sakira I don't want you to do this." His voice was gentle, but rough too. I was hurting him again.

"I have to Caleb! I can't let any of you get hurt." Especially not you, not again.

"Kira like I told Daleigh I know I can't change your mind but let me tell you one thing. Kira I love you." And then I felt his hand on my chin lifting my head up. And then he kissed me. And I actually kissed him back too.

"Well it's lucky I came when I did. It seems like my future queen is being very naughty. Take her." Two soldiers grabbed at my arms and I struggled as hard as I could but they were too strong. I opened my mouth to say something, tell Caleb I loved him too. "Ah ah princess, one word and they will never leave here alive." I could see Caleb struggling against the two guards too. In the corner Daleigh was fighting against the one trying to restrain her and Ryan was trying to escape a head-lock. I kept my mouth shut and stopped fighting. As they drug me away Caleb gave me a crushed look and my heart broke. I was drug from the room and was being drug around that corner when I heard the shouts of Ryan, and Daleigh. And a sob of the one man I had never heard cry before.


	20. poking, and insanity

_**And I was being dragged away further and further and every step it seemed like my heart broke that much more. We weren't going to win this one, there was no way. I was a fool before to ever get as arrogant as I had, to think I could do this. Now all I had done was made a complete mess of everything. Everything! I'm being thrown into a room, I hit my wound roughly and I close my eyes wishing I could just get away from it all. They open again just to spite me. "Get her up." Rough hands grasp my arms and forced me to my knees. I didn't care, what was the point?**_

_**My head hung limp from my shoulders as I stared at the brick of the floor. It looked cold, dark, like the way my life was starting to turn. I was going to marry this beast and I would never see anyone I knew ever again. I couldn't even trust that he would be true to his word and release my friends; everything was out of my control now. **_

"_**Look at me when I'm talking to you! Are you daft?!" A hand slapped my face and my mouth dropped open shocked. What was I doing?! He may have one but that was no reason to not go down with a fight! I glared up at him with all that I could muster. He just smirked and put a hand to tweak my chin like I was some cute misbehaving child! I bit at his hand and smirked as his hand flinched away. This time he glared back. He bent down low so he was right next to my ear and whispered "I still have your friends in my possession you know." I glared at him but didn't move. "Good girl." He stood to his full height so he towered above me and I knew instantly what he was trying to pull, trying to make me feel small and conquered. Well I was anything but, at least now. **_

"_**Fine take away my dignity, take away my rights as a person, you can take away everything I have and you know it but you can't take away my beliefs, or my spirit. That only I can choose to give up and you're **_not worth it_**." I hissed out the words and I could even see a small spark of fear and disbelief in the guard's eyes. **_

"_**You should learn to hold your tongue if you ever wish for your dear brother to make it home alive." And so I did but inside I was seething. "Lock her here let's see how much fire she has after a few days without food eh my dear? I've never failed to break a horse, you're no different." And with that the guards once again pushed me to the floor and I had to remind myself that trying to catch myself would just end hurting my arm more than anything else. And so I ended up with a bitten tongue bleeding and the copper taste of blood in my mouth. Not caring about if I stained anything I spit the blood on the floor and used my good arm to get up. And once I got up I started pacing. I could hear it now "It's not becoming for a lady to pace like that!" My step-mother would say. **_Well it's a good thing she's not here then isn't it? _** And so I continued pacing. It helped me think and I certainly needed to think right now. **_

_**First I needed to know if he ever planned on actually letting them go or it was some ploy to get me to cooperate. Well for now I would have to let it work, I wouldn't risk the lives of others. And how would I escape if they ever did leave? For the first time in probably a while I stopped pacing and actually took in my surroundings. If it wasn't a prison it might've been considered nice by some other lady. To me it was just that a prison and one with horrible décor to make things so much better. Other ladies might have called it a light peach but to me it looked more of a dying salmon color. Other ladies might've called the curtains mint green, personally it looked more like puke. That wasn't what I really wanted though what I wanted was what was behind the curtains. Freedom. **_

_**I walked, rather hobbled I suppose, towards the window and carefully brushed a curtain aside. It was a wide window, definitely large enough for me to fit through, and when I pushed on it my heart skipped a beat as I opened just a crack. Did they really suspect so little of me that they wouldn't think I would try scaling down a building? I looked down the side and any hope I had was smothered. Outside my window was a drop of at least a hundred feet straight to the foamy crash of dark blue, angry waves. **_It will be a last resort_**. There's no way of telling how deep it goes. The curtain swished closed and I slide down the wall and put my hand to the bridge of my nose. Strike one. I knew the door was locked without even trying it. Strike two. I looked around the room two other doors. One door leading to the bathroom, the other door opens to the closet, probably. Each of those was a strike. **_

_**Well that didn't mean I was out. Our Castle had so many secret passages in it there had to be some here! I mean come on this kingdom was built on conquering other nations! It was a warring nation and so they would need an escape route if anything battle plan were to backfire. It could take forever to find one though. I took a quick glimpse around; well I guess forever starts now. Quickly scrambling up, well as quick as I could anyway, I decided to start with one of the more cliché places to start. The back of a closet, behind some ancient wardrobe was as good a place to start as any I supposed. Now just pick a random door. Left it is. I walk over and open the door. **_

_**And I grunt as it's clearly NOT the closet. And it's even more clearly NOT the way out of here. Yup it was the bathroom and oh how clever the designers were! It seemed an exact replica of the room I had left except add a sink and tub, leave a window, and subtract a bed. It was two steps above a dungeon cell I suppose but they definitely weren't attempting to spoil. Well one door down one more to go. I rolled my eyes; this room was lowering my wits by the second. **_

_**Opening the other door I nearly groaned in frustration. Gone was the window in the other rooms, but still present was that horrible pink wall coloring, and now instead of curtains it was the chests and the trimming being that puke "mint" green color! This was utterly ridiculous! Did I look like the kind of girl that appreciated pink and light green? And to add insult to injury you should've seen the dresses they had left! It was pure and utter madness to expect anyone with even a small dose of sanity to wear those walking bird cages! Pardon me that was incorrect, more of bird torture chamber. **_

_**Yup that fit a lot better. Now I have worn dresses before but come on have you ever tried fighting in a dress?! My step-mother and I have had this discussion numerous times and we finally decided that I could get away with wearing pants as long as she never saw it and when guests came I relatively got dressed up. Mainly that consisted of a very simple dress that I bought off a maid. These were far from that. Very far. The hem of theses dresses were cut way to low and were embroidered with gold or silver, the point of which I really have no clue. Most of the dresses were bright pinks and there weren't any that didn't look like a jungle threw up on it, what with all the floral they exhibited. I wasn't quite sure it hadn't been woven of flowers and stems. **_

_**Grimacing I took one step farther into the closet. Oh they couldn't possibly expect me to wear those audacious outfits! A dark hiss left my lips as I spotted the corsets. Not even my step-mother could stand those **__things__**. I glared at them for a second before realizing I was glaring at an inanimate object. Shaking my head I moved on. And sure enough there was a wardrobe at the back of the closet and it was actually big enough to hide a secret exit if there indeed was to be one behind here. Back to the wardrobe and feet to the wall I started pushing. And let me say this thing was not light! What did they put in here bars of gold? And before I knew it the whole thing slid and I was falling backwards just to land once again roughly onto the wood paneling of the accursed dresser. **_

_**Rubbing my head I glared at the thing daring it to move again before looking along the wall for any seam or something that kind of stood out. And other than a weird water stain that looked strangely like a face of some guy with a tall hat, there was nothing out of place at all. Well wasn't this great. And behind me there was this huge thump. Whirling around, I saw a guy…on the floor… umm okay? That's a little weird. Maybe I'm hallucinating? Walking slowly over I crouched down and poked him, it? The thing, hallucination or not, groaned and felt solid but then I didn't really have much experience in the field of hallucinations. Did hallucinations groan and could they actually feel solid? Glancing up, the ceiling looked just as solid as before. Again I poked the thing at my feet. **_

_**Suddenly it rolled over and I jumped back before cocking my head to the side to look closer at whatever it was. It did look rather human, with straight brown hair and pale skin. He looked really close to my age really. Maybe 16? He opened his eyes and he groaned slapping a hand to his forehead. He muttered something that oddly sounded a lot like "Man, messed up the spell again!" **_

_**Then he sat up and glanced around before finally laying eyes on me. We stared at each other for five seconds before he bolted up in a rush and stammered something along the lines of "Well um, you see… uh huh… well… hi there… you might be well uh… oh mom? Gotta go," Before running towards the door. I put out my hand to try and stop him but it was too late. He grabbed the handle very well expecting it to turn and ran straight into the door instead of through it. I winced as he hit the wood head on. Ouch. Running, quick hobbling, does it really matter? You get the idea I moved as quick as I could over to whoever he was and as brilliant as I was decided now would be a good idea to poke him again. **_

"_**Okay seriously what is up with you and poking me?" He groaned and I smiled. **_

"_**You're up aren't you? Very smooth running into the door by the way." **_

"_**Well I wouldn't have if it wasn't locked, speaking of which why exactly is the door locked?" **_

_**I shrugged "Because I'm a Princess that's being held hostage so I can become some crazy psycho Princes' bride after failing miserably at rescuing my brother who was kidnapped during a war which turned out to be more of a distraction." Why I was talking to someone I'm still not quite sure isn't a hallucination? I don't know ask when I'm sure I'm sane. **_

"_**Um, okay?" He said not looking really that much phased in the slightest by the tale that seemed too weird even for me. **_

"_**You believe me?" **_

_**He shrugged the way I had "Well yeah why not? It's not like you've lied to me yet why start now?" **_

"_**But this is the first time I've talked to you…" **_

"_**Exactly." Well then… umm. **_

"_**Sooo… how'd you get in here since it obviously wasn't through the door." He glanced at me then the door then back at me. **_

"_**How do you know I didn't come in through the door?" **_

_**I raised an eyebrow but played along. "Because it's locked?" **_

"_**How do you know it's only locked from the inside out have you ever tried from the outside in? But then if you've tried it from the outside, in then you would've known it was locked and wouldn't have probably been stuck here in the first place. Unless that is that you simply forgot that it was locked from the outside in instead of the inside out in which case you walked through thinking that you would be able to get back out easier than you got in…" here I decided to put my hand over the guys mouth. **_

"_**Stop it your trying to distract me." I heard a string of mumbled incoherencies behind my hand and I glared at whoever he was till he stopped. I knew he wasn't going to spill but maybe, maybe he didn't have too. "Okay you know what? I suddenly realized I don't care how you got in here, just answer one question. Could you get me out?" He stared at me, probably shocked that a lady would want out of a room so expensively furnished. Well let me tell ya I couldn't care less about the room I wanted out of this haywire room. But not now, getting out now would just get my friends and me in some serious hot water. "Not now of course, but…" I glanced around. "Do you know if there are any listening charms or some unwanted visitors in our little discussion?" He shook his head. "No you don't know or no there aren't any here?" **_

"_**Nope there aren't any here." He said glancing at me like I had just grown a spare head. **_

"_**Good, you've heard about those captives?" **_

"_**The recent ones His Highness'," Whoever he was rolled his eyes "guards caught on a hunting trip? A princess, a prince, and a maid I think." **_

_**I shook my head "No not a maid a Lady in Waiting and my best friend thank-you-very-much." **_

"_**Maid, Lady in Waiting, same difference…wait best friend? Macaroni sticks! You're the princess! YOU!" He waited a second "Wait…Your best friends with a maid?" Now I rolled my eyes and decided to ignore the last comment. **_

"_**Close your mouth before a bat thinks it's a cave, kay?" **_

"_**But you're the princess! Why in the world are you trapped in here?" He looked behind him at the locked door and then back at me.**_

"_**Does captive not ring any bells to you?" **_

"_**Oh right, well then… awkward." I rolled my eyes and smiled; under different circumstances I might've taken the time to be friends but right now? Nope. **_

"_**So can you do it? Not now like I said but I have to get out of here." He looked at me and I had a feeling I was under very close inspection. Why? I didn't know but I would find out soon enough. **_

"_**Okay ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies, got it?" **_

_**My turn to nod, it seemed. **_

"_**Good, I can do one better come here." He jumped to his feet, nearly hitting me I might add, and walked over to a wall across from the bed. Weirdly enough he stopped suddenly and turned back to me. "Right, um yeah I'm gonna have to ask you to close your eyes. Don't give me that look it's not like I'm some weirdo or anything." **_

"_**Right, whatever, I'm not even sure you're not a hallucination right now so whatever." **_

"_**You think I'm a hallucination?" I nodded and shrugged. He smiled "You are by far the coolest princess I've ever met… okay you're the only one but whatever…ugh just close your eyes already would you?" I laughed a little and closed them. **_

_**Waiting… waiting…waiting… hello still here with my eyes closed! Did I just ditched by a hallucination? Is that even possible?! My foot started tapping. What can I say I never said I was patient person! "Okay I'm back! You can open your eyes now, actually I'm kinda surprised you kept them closed you really didn't have to." I opened my eyes to glare at him but was kind of shocked out of it to see he wasn't alone. There was another guy standing right beside him now. I cocked my head to the side again. Could hallucinations multiply? "I'm not a hallucination already, now listen I'm Drayton this," He waved his hand at the taller, thin as a rail, guy standing beside him. "is my friend Tim, and," Here he stopped and looked around. What was he looking for? **_

"_**And I'm Garret!" I nearly jumped out of my skin. Where had he come from?! I whirled around and noticed another guy standing there snickering. Now I really did glare at him and whacked him upside the head. "Hey! What was that for?!" **_

"_**For scaring me you dolt! I don't even know you!" **_

"_**Sure you do I'm Garret like I said!" I sighed under my breath and turned back to Drayton and Tim. **_

"_**I'm not going to ask." Instead I examined the very weird newcomers. Tim was taller than Drayton with short brown hair. Tim was thin like Garret and again with short brown hair. Drayton had shoulder length brown hair. "So why exactly are they here?" I said glancing warily between Tim and Garret. **_

"_**Well we've discussed it and these guys are going to help me with getting you out of here. Don't say anything it's just going to be for a little while, none of us are really that good at spells yet to hold it for too long." I raised an eyebrow on that one. Spells? Seriously? "So here's what's gonna go down. Tim is going to do the replacement spell, which basically is he's just going to make himself look like you. Garret is going to make you look different so no one is going to recognize you and I'm going to transport you out of this," he looked around, "very nicely furnished prison." I chuckled a bit, ah a guy after my own heart. Wait, wait, wait spells? **_

"_**Spells?" **_

"_**Oh yeah us three," hand wave at all three again, "are mages." **_

"_**More of mages in training actually." Drayton rolled his eyes at Garret and I smirked a bit. That is until I remembered something he had said when I first met him. **_

"_**Wait I thought you said 'I messed this spell up again'! You're going to be transporting me?!" Suddenly this un-magical room seemed a bit better, not much, but a bit. **_

"_**Well do you want to get answers or not? And I'm the best at it." I grimaced and weighed the options here. Looking around I sighed, it really wasn't much of a choice was it? Evidently he read my look because he nodded at me. **_

_**I heard Tim mumble something under his breath. I blinked. There standing in front of me was, well me. No poof of smoke, no blinding flash of light. Just in the span of a blink. Talk about anticlimactic. Shaking my head I took a step closer to Tim-turned-me. The hair was shorter than mine but close enough that Psycho Prince wouldn't notice. Tim looked down and I saw a smirk on his, mine, lips. "Pretty darn close." He said and I bit my lip to keep from cracking up laughing. His form was the same as mine but that definitely was NOT my voice. In fact by the looks of near laughter on the other two guy's faces it was his original voice. Hearing that coming from MY body was officially the weirdest thing of this entire trip. And that is saying something. **_

_**I shook my head "Just don't say anything okay and we might just get this to work." I looked at the door and then back at my "body". "And pray with all you got that Psycho Prince doesn't come. You all do get that if you get caught doing this you'll be in some serious crap?" They all looked at each other and then back at me their eyes suddenly very somber. They nodded and my respect for this weird group went way up. **_

"_**Okay my turn to work some magic!" Garret smiled at his own joke and Drayton hit himself on the forehead while Tim just smirked. **_

_**This time was different though, it wasn't just blink. This time my entire body just felt itchy and tingly. Goosebumps crawled across my skin. Then it stopped. I took in a breath and sighed. Well that was over. I looked at Garret and he frowned. "Oops." My eyes widened and I realized 'oops' was a very, very, very, bad word. Quickly I looked down and checked to make sure there was no gaping hole anywhere. Then I put my hands to my face feeling for anything weird. Yet I still couldn't find anything, I glanced up at Garret to see he was gripping onto a table laughing silently. Drayton whacked him over the head again and I thanked him in my head. **_

"_**Okay if you look closely you could probably recognize you but we're passing you off as a maid here, no one noble would look close enough to recognize you." He grabbed my hand and I prepared myself. Only this time it was worse. It felt like I was wading through molasses that had been sitting out on a cold day. Breathing felt like a chore and Drayton's hand suddenly felt like a safety line. I gripped on it tightly afraid that if I let go I would be stuck in this thick mess forever. The tugging stopped and my breath came out in short, shallow, breaths. "Right sorry, I forgot how bad that is the first time. It'll get better though." I groaned at the thought of doing THAT again. It was not a prospect I was looking forward to. "Anyone asks your Lacy okay? She's the maid that was supposed to show up today; unfortunately she sent a letter saying that her da is sick and she'll have to come a week late, mysteriously enough that letter hasn't yet reached the castle." He winked at me and I shook my head. "Lucky for you this is just a past-time for now, as of yet I double as the messenger here. Tim and Garret are too. Now," **_

"_**Drayton!" A girl with shoulder length brown hair came running and tripped suddenly. Drayton moved and caught her before she fell and she smiled up at him sweetly. I smiled, they made a cute couple. Suddenly she noticed I was standing right there and blushed tomato red from head to toe, successfully making me smile harder. Quickly she hid her face in Drayton's shoulder and I bit my lip to stifle a laugh. I liked her. **_

"_**This is Traci. Traci this is Lacy the new maid here." Slowly he let go of her but I noticed how he kept one arm around her back. She smiled brightly at me and I smiled back, her face was still red. Can we get an aww here? **_

"_**Hi! I'm Traci! But I guess you knew that… oh! You're going to be a maid too? Do you want me to show you around?" She smiled again and I had to smile back, the girl was contagious. **_

"_**Sure, I don't think I could ever find my way around here." She giggled and I smiled at her, yup I really did like this girl. **_

"_**I know! It's so big but you'll get used to it!" She grabbed my hand and was about to run off when she tripped, again. I braced myself and barely caught her before she landed on the floor. I heard Drayton laugh a bit behind me and she stuck her tongue out at him before giggling and dragging me off to who knows where. This time without tripping. I shook my head; these people were turning my opinions inside out. Only the Prince and the King really seemed to fit anything I had imagined of these people. The rest were just people led by a bad ruler. They couldn't do anything about it or be killed, or worse have their families killed. "Come on!" Laughing I followed her, turning left down a hallway, right through an archway, another right. I heard it before I saw it. The hoof beats of horses, the clashing of steel on steel, grunts, and behind that birds singing. Outside. Freedom. No I couldn't leave, not yet. **_

_**I let out a sigh my heart slightly deflated. "Hey are you alright?" Traci had stopped and was looking at me, a confused look on her face. I shook my head but she just cocked her head to the side slightly. "We're friends right?" I bit my lip but nodded, I did like her. She smiled again "Then don't be sad! Whatever it is we can work through it together! Kay?" She squeezed my hand a little before saying "Now come on there's someone I want you to meet! She's amazing!" **_

_**We stepped outside and the first thing I noticed wasn't the knights mock fighting in a small fenced off section to the right. No what I noticed first was to the left. To the left there were numerous multi-colored tents with small colorful banners flapping lazily in the wind. People hustled and bustled about in a flurry of people that would make it easy to get lost if you wore the right clothes. Vendors shouted their goods in front of their tents and people talked around them. A dog barked loudly from the center of the stream of people. I think my mouth opened slightly. **_

_**Maybe one time when I was younger and my mom was still alive I had seen a sight similar to this before, but I couldn't remember it. I felt a slight tugging on my hand but I wanted to etch this into my memory. It was so bright, chaotic, noisy, and beautiful; I didn't want to forget it. I missed seeing people, new people. I hated being trapped within walls of stone, maybe that's some of the reason I wanted so desperately to come here, to escape. I wanted to escape my old life, and be a hero in a new one. I sighed I wasn't a hero look at the mess I had made behind me. "Whatcha looking at? Come on you have to meet her!" Turning around I saw her smile and I smiled back at her, I don't think it reached my eyes though. **_

_**She tugged me to the left and I'm not going to lie I was curious at what made her so excited. And then I gasped. A long brunette braid, thumping against her back as a black horse galloped smoothly beneath her. She wasn't riding side saddle like so many ladies did, but like I did, like a guy did. Black armor glinted in the sunlight like a black sun. She looked like an angel of death. Serious, not angry really, but intimidating even though she had to be shorter than I was. Her eyes were a piercing blue, but they sparkled mischievously. All of that was astounding enough but the thing that hit me the most wasn't all that. What hit me the most was the crest that was stamped onto the left arm of her armor and over the blanket of her horse. It was an eagle carrying an olive branch in one talon and a sword in the other. The crest I my mother had wanted me to memorize and be able to stitch with my eyes closed because he was the candidate she had wanted me to marry more than most others. **_

_**It was the crest Caleb wore on his armor too. **_

"_**Her name is Andrea and she looks really serious and stuff but you'll love her! She's a woman knight! Can you believe it?" She sighed dreamily and I looked at her. And I really gave her a full out smile. There was another woman knight, and she was from Caleb's Kingdom. I didn't know why she was here, maybe trying to negotiate a peace treaty but she was her and maybe, maybe she could help. **_

"_**Traci!" I heard another shout and a blonde girl ran up. What was with these girls and being so short? Traci, Blondie, and Andrea… hmmm. **_

"_**Olivia! Olivia, look! It's Lacy! She's the new maid here!" She stopped a couple of steps away and looked me over before she too smiled brightly like Traci had. I chuckled a bit, at least the people were nice. **_

"_**Hey! I'm Olivia, well okay you knew that but I'm a seamstress here, and this…" She waves at a blank space beside her and I raise an eyebrow. Oh man I hope it's not another invisible kid… **_

"_**Boo!" **_

"_**AH!" Screaming I whirl around to find a very tall, very much so visible girl. I glare at her arms over my chest and she just smiles, doesn't even laugh just smiles. **_

_**Olivia slaps her forehead and shakes her head, evidently this is common behavior for a lot of people around here too… "Well now you know Caitlin, my totally insane half cousin on my mother's side twice removed… or is it three times? Oh well I can't remember." Caitlin smiles again before waving at me. **_

"_**Okkkaayyy then." I should be used to this by now… I shrugged. Well I did like them. Plus it wasn't like I was the most ordinary person out there either. I laughed a bit at the sudden memory of a girl gasping in horror as my step mom introduced me with a groan. Of course I was covered head to toe in mud, and to top it off was wearing a pair of pants I had "borrowed". Smiling I did my best curtsy and laughed when the girl, my age, nearly fainted. It was fun to be different sometimes. **_

"_**Hello? Lacy? You still alive there hun or am I gonna have to go call a doctor or something? Yuck just not the royal doctors… they've had a recent obsession with leeches thinking it's a miracle cure or something. All I think is they're idiots." Olivia smiled mischievously and I laughed a bit. **_

"_**Sooo, are you going to talk to her? It seemed like you knew her…" Traci looked at me, and for a second I was kind of stunned but I just shook my head. **_

"_**No you don't know her or no you don't want to talk to her?" **_

"_**No I don't know her, I don't even know if I should talk to her. She seems kind of…" I trailed off worried about saying it. **_

"_**Intimidating?" My poor heart was going to stop beating one of these times and guess who's fault that would be?! Not mine nuh-uh. **_

_**Whirling around I found… well Andrea. Oops… **_

_**She smiled, " I get that a lot but it's cool." **_

_**Olivia rolled her eyes "It adds to her mystique, no?" Andrea just smiled again and Traci giggled. **_

"_**I'm going out on a limb here and saying all of you know each other?" They all nodded, except for Caitlin who just smiled… **_

"_**Yeah we're all friends, just watch for Caitlin she's way awesome but a little loco." Olivia winked at me and I laughed. **_

_**Caitlin just smiled again before saying "I know where you live," **_

_**Olivia just laughed and shook her head, "Now I'm up to 421. Sweet." My look must've been extremely confused because Traci decided to fill me in. **_

"_**Olivia keeps track of how many threats Caitlin has given her. She started counting about 3 months ago." **_

_**I was going to reply. My mouth was open to say something but I heard feet pounding behind me. Turning around I saw Drayton running towards the new little group of friends I had found. "It's time to go!" He said in a huff before grabbing my hand and pulling me back into the castle. I had to go back to being trapped in my little room and I never got to actually talk to Andrea yet. "Hold on!" Suddenly I was moving through molasses again, but this time…this time I couldn't breathe. I tried to but my lungs just weren't working. I couldn't move though either, I was just stuck, stuck in a void with no way to get out. **_

_**And then I landed on the hard stone floor, and gasping for air. Drayton smiled looking around, until he noticed me on the floor. His eyes went wide and his mouth turned into a surprised "o". "I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! Are you alright?" I nodded trying to say something but right now my body was more concerned with air. **_

"_**Fine," I wheezed a bit. His eyes looked a bit more relieved that I had said something and my breathing was evening out more now but still I could see some regret. **_

"_**Sorry! I know I need to practice more! I'm sorry!" A small laugh came out and I shook my head.**_

"_**I'm fine," I said again. Well that was before I heard the booming footsteps coming down the hall. Oh joy Prince Charming was coming yip-de-doo-da-day. My life was complete. I rolled my eyes before realizing Drayton was just standing there looking like a deer trapped in front of a hunter. "Go!" I whispered harshly. He looked down at me and then back at the door hesitantly. "Now," I said trying to leave all question out of my voice. He nodded before, nothing. Just me trapped in here all alone, well me and the horrible corsets these people seemed to deem as "fashionable". Yup some people were just completely insane. **_

_**And even though there were loud, very angry footsteps coming right down the hallway to my door. And even though I was for sure that Drayton had left and wasn't just invisible somewhere in my room, I didn't feel as alone as I had earlier. I would find a way to make this work. I just didn't like the only two options that were popping up in my head though. I didn't like them at all. **_

"_**Hello Princess, glad to know you've decided to not run away. I just came to tell you that you're dear brother is galloping home right now the little maid in tow."**_

"_**What about Caleb?" My voice came out harsher than I had wanted too.**_

_**He laughed, a cruel dark laugh. "What better way to start a war than to hold the two heirs to the throne hostage?" And then he turned around and walked out of the room, the click of the lock sounded like thunder in my ears. **_

'_**What better way to start a war than to hold the two heirs to the throne hostage' he'd said. That couldn't be true though. Why would someone want to start a war that would ultimately cause millions of deaths, and maybe the fall of all three kingdoms? Insanity, greed, arrogance, hatred, that's why. He didn't even think the possibility of him losing anything was even possible did he? All he cared about was what he could gain, land, more power, more people to terrorize. I couldn't let that happen; maybe there really was only one option left. Or it would never end at all. **_


	21. Revolutions

_**I flopped back on the floor, thinking. I wish I could see the stars. And I suddenly remembered sitting out on the balcony with Caleb just staring up at the stars. I let out a very un-lady like snort. Back then my biggest problem was about my mother just suggesting that I get married. It's astounding how well, shallow, and protected I had been and how much I had changed in so little time! **_

_**I sighed focusing my mind again. There was no point in dwelling on the past now was there? No of course not. But I didn't want to dwell on the other option that I knew I needed to think about. How was the Prince doing this? I mean okay he was obviously insane but he was one person! How was he controlling the people and making them do this? Fear? Money? Or did enough of them actually buy into all this that the others couldn't speak out for fear of what would happen to them… or the ones they cared about. Are the people here hostages… like me? Well at least some of them? I had to find out. It was the only way that I could get us out of the situation. I couldn't let this be the Hydra where you cut off one head and another grows back. Say take the Prince out of power would another somebody, even worse than the Prince, step up to take his place? **_

_**I groaned and put my hands over my face. Maybe it was all just a bad dream that I could make go away? Right yeah and a fairy god- mother was going to show up and poof me into a dress and whisk me off to some magical ball where I meet the guy of my dreams and live happily ever after. Yeah that's where fairy TALE comes into play. It's not real. Life doesn't end with a happily ever after because life doesn't just end after marriage people! He could be your absolute soul mate, perfect-for-you-in-everyway-guy but there's still gonna be some problems! No Fairy Godmother to help me out…although it did seem like a pretty tempting idea… **_

"_**You called for me little girl? I'm your Fairy Godfather!" I sat up in a flash? **_

_**Can we get a "What?" **_

"_**I'm your Fairy Godfather! I'm here to solve all your problems!" and sure enough there was a guy… three feet tall… wearing a purple dress… and a blue cape… and itty bitty wings hanging lazily off his back… um okay? **_

"_**What?" **_

"_**I don't recall seeing in my reports that you were hard of hearing maybe I overlooked something?" **_

"_**What?" **_

"_**Hmm maybe a little daft then…'What' appears to be the only word she can say." **_

"_**Okay, no 'what' is not the only word I can say, I just happen to be a little confused right now." **_

"_**Right that is to be expected considering all the things you've gone through. You must've hit your head one of those times." And then he started snickering! Snickering! And I recognized that laugh! **_

"_**Garret!" I smacked him upside the head and there stood Garret, rubbing his head. **_

"_**What was that for?" I just rolled my eyes not even bothering to answer. **_

"_**Just letting you know that we're going to try, TRY to get Andra in here. We… well we kinda may have told Olivia the truth… well as much as we know… and she figures Andra can help. But hey if you don't want…" **_

"_**NO! I do need to talk to her and you need me to talk to her too." And he stayed silent just looking at my face before nodding and disappearing. And then there was Andra. Only instead of Garret it was Drayton in his place… I suppose he was the best one at teleporting… kinda hard to believe considering but what did I know? Apparently Andra agreed with me because she didn't look all too happy about the transportation. Actually she looked kinda sick but then again what do I know? **_

_**Finally she shook it off and we just glanced back at Drayton, who just so happened to still be standing there trying, and failing, to look like he wasn't really paying attention. Finally noticing we weren't going to say anything he just rolled his eyes mumbling something about "No respect for the magician gosh." Before waving goodbye and the poof no more Drayton. **_

"_**Is he always like that?" I asked nodding my head to where Drayton used to be.**_

_**Andra just shrugged "Yeah pretty much. You get used to it. They're all a little… erratic. Except Tim he's just the downer." She rolled her eyes at the end and I just smiled. "But then that's not what we're here for. Mind telling me why we are here?" She said. She glanced quickly around the room and I could see her wince the slightest bit. **_

"_**That's exactly it. You do know your Prince is here, being held hostage right?" I noticed her eyes hardened and I hesitated for a second. If she was here right now did that mean her loyalties lay here too? **_

"_**Yes I did know. That's why I'm here. Word traveled fast from your kingdom to ours that our Prince was to travel with you here. I was sent to help with a treaty. The royal-pain of a Prince here had other ideas." **_

"_**A peace treaty… so you've had contact with the Princes supervisors?!" I said my hopes rising just a slightest bit. The supervisors surely would see the foolishness of this! **_

_**She just scoffed and shook her head. "Supervisors, please! There aren't any supervisors to see. He had them executed as soon as his father started dying from poison. Convicted of treason and hung the day after. Two birds with one stone." **_

"_**Poison… hung…" I just trailed off hopelessly. So Evan really had all the power here…the title of prince was just a show. He ruled everything now. **_

"_**Yea and the guy is absolutely insane. He's holding you two as hostages just to start a war. Our countries are small but we have strong armies. Still all three will be wiped out if they go to war. No offense but if your country loses you, your brother can take over. Caleb is all our country has. The King and Queen could rule for a while sure but they won't live forever, and the nobles will be fighting for that power. We lose him and our government fails." Great another million heads on my shoulders… **_

"_**Well getting us out of here was the original plan…" **_

"_**You have a plan?" She didn't hide the doubt in her tone.**_

"_**No…" She rolled her eyes and I shrugged. "I just can't believe the people here would stand for this!" I had only gotten a brief encounter with some of the soldiers but they had seemed like good people… but then Evan had too…**_

_**She just gazed at me in disbelief. "You don't know do you?" **_

_**I raised an eyebrow (I've been getting pretty good at this huh?) "What do you mean?" **_

"_**They don't know. Well they know they're going to war obviously but they don't know everything. His **_Highness_**," She said with a scoff and a roll of the eyes "Keeps it all under wraps. Unless of course it suits his purpose and then everything said is so twisted and taken out of context it could hardly be called a quote anymore. Knowledge is power you know." **_

"_**So what we need… is a revolution. We need to find a way to get the truth out!" **_

"_**Yea and how do you expect to do that?" **_

"_**Maybe we don't need to do that exactly! There's got to be someone out there that knows the truth, someone who's afraid to say something. Make people ask questions, start to doubt the lies. Then people will come forward! Maybe not dramatically but one person tells another something and bam you get something!" **_

"_**Really and do you know how long it would take to make a country doubt what they think to be true?" **_

"_**Ah! Did you not just listen? You don't have to make everyone doubt! And I've met some of the people here and they're not dolts. There has to be some question somewhere! Just bring it up to the surface. It shouldn't be too hard, I mean after all humans are curious by nature. And don't forget the people who are here in the castle. The servants act like they can't hear or think but they know everything that's going on. They know what's going on they're just afraid to stand up. Let's give them a way to stand up!" **_

"_**A revolution… it could work." **_

"_**But the problem is, if it does work who will take over? There are no supervisors to take charge and I would rather that this little thing ended before I got married… it would just be a fight between the nobles for power." **_

_**And Andrea showed me one of her very rare smiles. "I think I might be able to help on that one." **_


	22. Think Cinderella

"_**What do you have in mind?" **_

"_**You're never gonna believe this one. It's a little farfetched and I heard it firsthand." **_

"_**My life has been farfetched." **_

"_**Well think Cinderella; only change her name to Olivia. Take away the evil step mother, replace it with an evil brother, and she's a Princess so I guess she would have to be the one to fall in love with a peasant." **_

"_**But I thought she and her are cousins or whatever?" **_

_**She shrugged "Three times removed." **_

"_**So her and Evan are actually brother and sister?" **_

"_**Nope, they're step-siblings actually."**_

"_**And he's forced her into a life of servitude?" **_

"_**Well he couldn't exactly hang her. People like her too much and come on she's a Princess, no one expects the Princess to do something like that. So the story is he sent her away for her own safety. Meanwhile he threatens to kill her too and keeps her as a servant so she doesn't spread the truth around herself. No one can dispute what she says when she can easily prove she is who she says she is." **_

"_**How can she prove that?"**_

"_**When they're young all nobility here are tattooed with a crown on their left wrist. It's usually redone over their life so it doesn't fade or whatever. It's a marking so if they're ever captured or go on a trip or something they can be recognized. If anyone who isn't royalty gets caught wearing the same tattoo they're killed." **_

"_**Wow." **_

"_**Yeah it's not as bad a plan as it sounds actually… well other than the killing part." **_

"_**Yea but how hard would it be to just copy the design and then you have a bunch of fake royalty walking around!" **_

"_**No actually. The design is rather unique in design and in composition. They use a weird color and only one person is ever told how to make it at a time. And evidently the main ingredient is extremely hard to get. Practically not even worth the time if you factor in how word travels fast like you said." Andra said.**_

"_**Wait, wait, wait, back on topic here. Okay so if our plan works, Olivia can take over the throne?" **_

"_**Yes, by that time the truth should be… we need to get Olivia out of here!" **_

"_**What? Why…oh! That's brilliant! But how are we going to sneak her out?!" **_

"_**We create a diversion that's how, we sneak her out and she tells as many people as she can. Meanwhile we get troops. We get people on our side." **_

"_**You know this might just work."**_

"_**It can if we get Olivia on our side. I'm sure she will though." **_

_**There was a light knock on the door and we both jumped startled. It couldn't be Evan, there was no way he would knock lightly on my door. But then who was it? **_

"_**Quick Andra get in the closet!" And she hurriedly ran to the closet, and with a small wince shut the door. I couldn't blame her; those corsets would give any sane person nightmares. **_

_**There was a small twist of the doorknob and there stood a young girl carrying a bunch of fabrics and supplies. Wait what was going on here? Somehow she managed to curtsy carrying all that fabric. "Your highness, may I enter? I am here to assist in making your wedding dress. Lady Olivia will be here shortly." **_

_**I smiled, she was so cute! "Okay dear first I'm not 'your highness' I'm Sakira. Secondly you don't need to curtsy! I always did think it was bad on your knees. And third that fabric is bigger than you! Here let me have it." And I took it from her hands while she was still shocked. I laughed and she quickly closed her mouth. **_

"_**But Your High…" I gave her a warning glance and she quickly corrected herself "Sakira, you're a Princess! You can't be doing something as low as holding fabric!"**_

"_**What's so low about holding fabric? I don't believe I'm going to hurt my oh so delicate hands by just holding fabric." I rolled my eyes and gave her a smile and she just stared at me for a second. **_

"_**You don't act like any Princess I've met." Her face turned blood red and she ducked her head quickly and I just laughed. **_

"_**Thanks dear I take that as a compliment." Wait a second… did she say Lady Olivia?! Olivia was coming here?! That's convenient. **_

"_**Kylie are you in here?" **_

"_**Yes my Lady!" **_

"_**Hello Princess Sakira or rather lady Lacy. That is your alias right?" She laughed and winked at me. **_

"_**So you knew all along huh?" **_

"_**As you probably know I am a princess. Not even my step- brother can take away my birthright. Andra you can come out." **_

"_**Oh thank you Olivia you're ever so kind." A voice said oh so sarcastically from the closet. Still the way she hurried out of there I'm sure she was glad to be away from the corsets. **_

"_**I know, you can think me later. First I want to hear what the plan!" **_

"_**And how do you know there's a plan?" **_

"_**Can I hear too?! Please, pretty, pretty please with uber sugar on top?!" I glanced at Andra before glancing back at Drayton. Andra, Drayton, Drayton, Andra. I really wish these crazy magic people would stop popping up so randomly. She just shrugged. **_

"_**Sure." **_

"_**YES!" He pumped his hand in the air and I just laughed shaking my head. **_

"_**Might as well get everyone in here, we can wait for a bit but hurry!" He nodded suddenly solemn and then poof! No more Drayton… well not here anyway. Where did he wonder off to? Oh well "Kay brainstorm people we need to cause a distraction so how are we going to do it?" **_

"_**Start a revolution from the inside in, of course! I thought it was obvious. After all the servants already know what's going on in here, they already know what my brother has done. A few willingly choose to follow him for power, and money, but there are a surprising number of good people who are just scared. If you stand up they will follow you though." She is definitely a princess, I thought. **_

"_**How do we start the riot?" **_

_**And now a very cunningly evil smile crossed Olivia's lips. Note to self: do not get on the bad side of Olivia, or Andra. "We've already started. We start planning in secret. We tell people we ultimately trust to join us, to throw in their ideas. We get people talking, but we have to make sure all the wrong people don't hear. It won't be easy but we have to try." **_

"_**I got people I can include" Andra said with a smile. **_

"_**Trust me, me too." Olivia added. Of course I was left out of our cunning little circle but then I'm sure I could find somebody. If only I could find that guard from the tunnels again! **_

"_**I'm back and look I brought people!" And sure enough a small group was gathered behind him. There was Traci standing right beside Drayton. Caitlin stood there smiling, albeit a tad bit creepily, at everyone. Tim and Garret were staring there, Tim glaring at Garret over something. A new girl stood in the corner of the group; her dark hair almost matched her clothes. And then there was another. A man staring holes at me like he almost couldn't believe something. Andra followed my gaze and dropped down to one knee her right arm over her chest her head bowed with respect. **_

_**I knew who the man was. I just couldn't believe I was seeing him now. It now seemed too good to be true. But no other man could've earned Andra's respect like this. Caleb. The man was Caleb. I ran to hug him but when I wrapped my arms around him he winced and stepped back. And then I saw the dried blood on the back of his shirt. The tears formed criss-crosses all down the back of his shirt. It was exactly the girlish cliché I had tried all my life to avoid but I couldn't help it. I put a hand to my mouth to help fight back tears. And rage. A horrible, consuming rage that felt like a fire welling up in me, no fire burned out too quickly, it felt like lava. It welled up slowly from my center. **_

_**I was fed up with this man who called himself a prince. He was a criminal. I would call him an animal but that would be insulting animals. Animals didn't kill other animals for the pleasure of it. They didn't enjoy inflicting pain upon others. That was all human. I heard the clear of a throat behind me, and then an earthly silence. Drayton had poofed them somewhere else for the time being. And now that there was no audience I broke down sobbing. I fell to the floor; my legs didn't seem to have the will to hold me up anymore. And Caleb wrapped me in his arms cradling me against his chest. This was wrong I should be helping him; I mean he was the one injured! Why was I crying? Yet still I sobbed on unable to stop. The tears just seemed to push out like an endless torrent. **_

_**And suddenly I felt a wet drop fall on my shoulder, then another. I stopped shocked for a second. I pulled my head away and saw that two wet streaks flowed down… from Caleb. Caleb was crying. I put my hand up and gently stroked away a tear that threatened to fall off the edge of his chin. And then he squeezed me closer to his chest and buried his head on my shoulder. And I realized that maybe, I was helping him. Maybe we could help each other by just being there. Love was a crazy thing. **_


	23. Sanctuary

My hand reached up to his face and I could feel the rough stubble, it felt like sandpaper on my hand but I didn't care. I wiped the tears running down his face away with my fingers but I couldn't stop looking into his eyes. His eyes were slightly puffy from the tears already, his eyes still shone with tears, but he was staring at me just as intently as I had him. I went to move my hand away but he just caught it, his hand covered mine.

"I thought for sure I was going to lose you, I never thought I would see you again Kira." I laughed slightly, a choked, very dark laugh.

"Me? You're the one with cuts lacing your back! Why did they do this to you? You didn't do anything! It should've been me." The last part was barely a whisper. I couldn't get my voice to work right; it should've been me. "I'm so sorry Caleb, so sorry. This is my fault; I should've never trusted him. I'm so sorry." Then his eyes got fierce, he looked… intimidating. I had never been scared of Caleb but right now he looked so determined, like a fire, he burned.

"No Kira! Don't you dare say that. You didn't do this you hear? It wasn't you! And we're going to bring to justice the one person that truly deserves it." And then his eyes softened again as he looked at me, he moved my hand from his cheek and just held it in his hand, his thumb rubbing my palm. "This isn't your fault Kira. I don't blame you for any of this. Honey don't blame yourself, please?" I couldn't look him in the eyes, but I nodded my head. "They whipped me because the Prince knew I loved you, he was jealous I suppose, he doesn't like that his bride is loved by another." He laughed bitterly and his hand relaxed its hold on mine but I tightened mine in return.

"I shall never marry him, I would rather die than be tied to that man by marriage. I love you Caleb, no one else. I don't want to lose you… I wouldn't…" My words were caught off by his mouth on mine, kissing me. He kissed me with an urgency I had never felt before, like this might be the last time we ever got to do it. I prayed that wasn't true. His hands tangled in my hair and he pulled my face closer to his, holding me there and it didn't seem like he had any intentions of letting go. My hands grabbed his shirt pulling his body closer to mine, till I heard a low hiss of pain.

I quickly let go and moved to pull away but his hands held me close to him, he only paused long enough to whisper "no, don't go yet." I didn't object, instead I wrapped my arms around his neck, could feel the warmth of his body next to mine. I could feel his breath on my skin, the smell of him as I breathed in. It was overwhelming. And then my whole body tensed, he stopped, suddenly alert. "What is it? What's wrong?"

I could hear him move, feel his hands trail down my arms and then leave me but I was distracted. There was something there, right on the edge of my hearing, something… getting closer. Boots, it was the sound of boots walking towards my door. "Get in the closet with the others! Now! Don't leave quite yet but if something goes wrong and he gets suspicious leave!" I whispered harshly, his mouth opened to protest something but I just glared at him, "promise me right now that no matter what you will not leave that closet, do you hear me?" Again he opened his mouth to protest but he stopped, and then he nodded his head. "Good, go!" I helped him to his feet and ignored his winces as moving hurt his back. I had to hide him; I couldn't let them hurt him again! I wouldn't let anyone whip him again. I led him to the closet and gave a pointed look at Andra, "don't let him out, don't let him make a sound, and don't let him play hero."

Caleb glared at me saying with his eyes "what? Like you're about to do?"But I ignored it, only moving away when Andra nodded.

I whirled around and settled with lying on the floor, looking up at the ceiling. It seemed inconspicuous enough, I hoped. The door opened with a bang and I sat up with a glare. "I could've been changing you know, it might make me like you more if you were an actual gentleman instead of some ravage be…" My head whirled around and I fell sideways back to the floor, my hand traveled to my cheek. "You just punched me!" For a second I sat there startled looking up in to oddly satisfied look on his face, he looked smug. Quickly, though, I jumped to my feet, anger seeping through the shock. Another pain, this time in my eye, and then another blow to my gut, I crumpled to my knees. I bit my tongue, I could taste the quick burst of blood as I refused to cry out. One of the shoulders took a step forward, uncertain and shocked himself, until a glare from the prince sent him back into his place in the formation. I was stumbling to get to my feet when I felt a hand around my neck. The pressure did not hurt, but it was threatening and my eyes widened in shock. "You wouldn't kill me."

He raised me to my feet and threw me against the nearest wall. I landed with a thud but I kept my footing. My arms were flung out against the wall, trying to keep me up. My legs were shaking; my body hurt, I knew there were already bruises forming. He sneered at me, obviously enjoying the pain I was in. He was sick. He was a monster. I spat the blood in my mouth onto the carpet and his filled with rage again. He moved to punch me again but a hand held his back. His rage turned onto the guard that had stepped forward the first time but he didn't move. The guard stammered "S…si…sir, don't you think… it w…would…be…be…be best to quest…ion her f…fi…first?" He quickly looked away but he didn't move back into formation, and he didn't let go of the prince's hand. The prince, though, ripped his hand away from the guard and I thought for a second he was going to punch the guard, or me but he didn't. He lowered his hand regarded me with icy eyes, as if he hadn't just punched me repeatedly five seconds ago.

"Question me about what? Because I assure you I most likely don't know anything, seeing as I've been trapped in this ever so enchanting room since I've gotten here. Thank you ever so much for the simply _lovely _dresses by the way, and the corsets, I love them _ever so much._" So I may have been laying the sarcasm on a little thick, but it never was much of my strong suit on knowing when to quit. He glared at me but he didn't move to hit me again.

"Where is the prince?"

"The Prince? Why, my dear, you're right there!" I said feigning big doe eyes. He punched the wall right by my head and I flinched away instinctively. I heard some shuffling in the closet and I prayed no one would hear.

"Check to closet. Now!" A few of the guards hesitated and I flinched again for a completely different reason. Bad words. He smirked at me before rubbing a hand along my jawbone; I glared up at him and stepped away, only to run into his other arm. He had me cornered. Like heck he had me cornered. Without thinking of the consequences I kneed him in a very bad place. He went down with a heavy thud and my eyes widened at myself. Before I even realized what I was doing I ran from the room as fast as I could. Sprinting down the hall, I could barely make out the voice yell "after her!" to the guards. I sprinted down corridors, knocking over maids with hands full, men delivering news, everyone that was in my way. I would die if I were caught; there was no doubt in my mind.

Why the heck did I do that? Yet… I couldn't bring myself to be exactly regretful about my rash decision. And then I remembered my new friends in the closet. Caleb! Oh what had happened to them? I slowed slightly in my sprint to look over my shoulder and then something grabbed my arm and pulled me through… a curtain. I didn't have time to think about it though because a hand was placed very firmly over my mouth. I stomped on my captors' foot as hard as I could and I heard a muffled grunt. I whirled around to find Garret with Andra's hand clamped tightly around his mouth. After she was sure he'd be quiet she let go and he plopped on the floor holding his foot. "Umm sorry about that" I muttered quietly.

Tim walked up behind him and snickered "And justice has been served. Get up you big baby it doesn't hurt that bad."

"How do you know it doesn't hurt that bad? You weren't the one whose foot she stomped on!" They continued bickering quietly but I ignored them focusing on Andra for the moment.

"How'd you guys get out? What happened?" I looked around, searching for Caleb but I couldn't see any sign of him. My breathing spiked in my throat and I glanced nervously at Andra. She looked fine. She would be more upset if something had happened to Caleb… wouldn't she?

"Caleb is fine Princess. We got him out of there in time, but he opened his wounds again. I had to knock him out." I looked at her skeptically but didn't say anything, now didn't seem like the best time. She smiled slightly but continued, " Like I was saying we hid him, he's safe for now. Drayton is with him and will transport him again if anything occurs. Our little revolution is going to have to hurry up, though, much sooner than is probably good. We're going to have to have a meeting as soon as possible and with everyone we can trust. I think you've created our diversion anyway; the prince has all the guards out looking for you, Caleb, and now our dear old Princess Olivia. He thinks we've hidden her away somewhere too and is desperate to find her now. The guards on our side already suspect something is up by now, I would imagine, and they'll make up for any other time we could possibly need."

I did a mock bow before smiling slightly. "Pleasure to be of service lady knight. Now where is Olivia and how are we getting her out of here?"  
She shook her head before saying "We aren't, I am. None of the guys are good enough to do any major teleporting, not nearly far enough to get her outside of the gates. This tunnel leads out into the courtyard, from there we can sneak across the lawn and I have a guard friend out there that will get us the rest of the way, it was a quick favor but it worked out thankfully. Drayton will take you up to be with Caleb, he nearly killed himself struggling to get to you. For his sake, it would be better if he could see you when he woke up. I shall keep the Princess safe as she spreads the truth. You on the other hand need to lead the rebellion in here. You'll lead the meeting, don't worry about the people, the news will spread quickly now, just like we had hoped." She put her hand on my shoulder and smiled ever so slightly . "You'll be a good queen someday Princess, I regret not being able to fight alongside you. Keep our Prince safe or it shall be your head." She smiled at the end of it and then she fled down the tunnel. It was dark and I couldn't see her for more than a few feet but I heard her footsteps against the dark stone.

"Man it smells like mildew down here! How long has it been since this tunnel was used?"

I turned around, but, sadly, I was getting used to random people popping out of nowhere. Yes this was very messed up. "It's a secret tunnel, my guess is that the point of a secret tunnel is to keep the general population from knowing about it, mmmmeaaannnniiinnnggg it isn't used a lot." He stuck his tongue out at me before grabbing my hand and dragging my hand and pulling me down a corridor, and then I was in somewhere completely new. A stained glass window filtered in rosy colored lights, illuminating dust particles as they floated in the stiff air. This was most definitely a place that hadn't been used recently. Benches that looked like they were made of Olive wood faced an altar in the very front of the room. The light filtered over the altar and I could tell that it once was a place of beauty. Now candle wax was dripped in small piles from long burned down candles. Birds had been here recently leaving white dripping stains on the floors and walls. Dust covered nearly everything and tickled at my nose making me want to sneeze. A lot of the benches showed their lack of care and made it evident no one had been here in a long time.

"Where is this place? Why are we here?"

Drayton looked around and I could see a bit of sadness in his eyes, likely from the destruction of a place that had once been so beautiful. "It used to be a sanctuary, long before the prince grew up into who he is now." He turned his eyes and looked at me before sighing and looking up at the stained glass window. "When he was a boy Evan and I used to be friends. We would play all the time together, and his dad was a good King with his mother. Evan always was a little… odd, but he was nice, and funny. He was older than I was and I thought he was the coolest thing. I looked up to him. When his mother died, his father and Evan became really secluded. They both really loved her and were torn apart when she left. His father eventually healed but… Evan took it personally for some reason. Starting blaming people for the death of his mother, said that it was so and so's fault for her death. He started becoming more and more withdrawn. For the longest time I was the only person he would talk to, and then he stopped talking to me too. I didn't know what to do. Then, one day, this lady comes. She was a noble from some other country, looked quite a bit like you actually. Evan fell madly in love with her. Julianne was her name, I believe. He was the happiest I had seen him in a long time. He was wrapped around her finger pretty much from the beginning. I liked her too, and not just because she drew him out of his self-confinement. She was a really sweet, caring lady. He proposed to her, only after 3 months of knowing her. She said yes and they were to be married by the end of the year. Then… she was murdered. It was a horrible death… and well, Evan went insane, literally. Something in him snapped when he found her in her bed. Everything was drenched with blood." Drayton shuddered and ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. " When she died… he searched high and low for the person who killed her, didn't sleep, wouldn't eat, refused to stop. After a week of this he passed out, he nearly died. When he came to, well he went right back at it. Eventually they had to lock him in a room and force-feed him. He just wouldn't stop. Didn't stop for a year. Then, he just stopped looking. You could see something in him just break… the last thing holding him just fell apart. He became a recluse again, hiding from the world. None of us knew what to do so we just let him be to grieve. We figured time would heal his wounds. Eventually he came out, started talking to people again, but he never was the same. He slowly devolved into the man you now know." He looked at me slowly again before continuing, "You really do look like her, I think that's why he both hates you, and loves you. When you snuck into his camp I think he really thought that his girl was back, and that horrid murder was just a trick. When you left, he fell further than ever before. It isn't an excuse, I know. He had no right to do what he did, and I know… I know he most likely must die… but… I just wanted you to understand him, or attempt to… I don't know if we can ever truly understand the reasonings of the mad but…"

"No I understand what you mean, thank you for telling me."

He nodded his head gravely, and I could see what it must do to him. How hard it must be to see someone you adored so much, fall like that. I couldn't imagine, didn't even want to. I turned around but he was gone, poofed somewhere else.

"So what did you think of his story?" I looked up startled to find Caleb struggling to sit up on a pew just in front of me. I rush over to help him but he holds out a hand to stop me. "Let me do this on my own Kira."

"You don't always have to do everything on your own you know, I can help you too. It isn't weak to need help sometimes." But I stop anyway, there are some things that people need to do on their own, this was one of those times.

"I know that Kira, do you?"

I shrugged, I did know that, but I also knew I had a bad tendency with double standards. "I do… most of the time. It's a work in process" I gave him a small smile and he returned it, now in a sitting position. "How are you Caleb? Andra told me about how you nearly killed yourself trying to help me. You really shouldn't have, I had it under control, I gave him a good ol' knee in a very bad place." I chuckled at it now, I definitely could not bring myself to regret it at all.

He scoffed but I could see him smiling. "That's my girl, now are you going to at least come over here or are you going to leave the poor old cripple to come over there?"

"Oh please you're hardly a cripple" My smile faded when I saw him wince, though. "Caleb, are you ok?" I sat down gently beside him and put my hand on his shoulder, he was hurting so much. _Oh Caleb… you didn't deserve this… _

He looked over at me and tried to smile but it still looked really pained. He put his arm around my shoulders and I scooted closer to him, leaning into his side as much as I could without hurting him. He put his head on top of mine and his hand drew small circles on my arm. "I'm better that you're here. I thought I was going to lose you, in that room Sakira, I thought he was going to beat you to death…" There was a sharp inhale of breath and I grabbed his other hand with mine, squeezing gently just to let him know I was ok. He returned the pressure and I could feel just a little bit of weight drop off my shoulders. We were together for right now, and relatively safe for the moment. I closed my eyes, laying my head on his shoulder. I wanted time to stop, I wanted to be able to stop worrying about the millions of peoples of lives and just enjoy being here, with Caleb. I pulled back the slightest bit and he looked at me confused on why I had moved so suddenly. "What is it? Do you hear something?" I could feel his body tense and his arm tightened around me protectively.

I laughed slightly and shook my head. "No it isn't that, it's just I want to make the most of our time alone while we can." He raised an eyebrow slightly but I just giggled before giving him a quick kiss. He smiled and for the first time I noticed how his eyes slightly crinkled at the edges when he did so. His skin was tanned from years of being outside and his nose was slightly crooked, like it had been broken before. He had a scar that ran through his eyebrow, and another one on his forehead. I touched it softly asking "how did this happen?"

" I fell off a horse when I was a boy. I got a bit cocky and I ended up having to get stitches because of it. I learned my lesson quite sufficiently after that one, I must say." He smiled gently before bringing my hand to his lips. He kissed the back of my hand before turning it over and doing the same for my wrist. I tried to ignore the blush but I could feel the heat on my cheeks already spreading. I could feel him smile against my skin and I blushed even more crimson. I pulled my hands away and buried my face, embarrassed by my lack of control on that accursed blushing. He peeled my hands off, though and used his hand to hold my chin up. "I've missed that beautiful face of yours, I'd rather not have you hide it now when I finally get the chance to see it."

"Flirt." But, again, I could already feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. I was a sap, what could I say? It was hardly my fault.

"Only for you dear, only for you."

"Well, can't say I'm exactly happy to break up this little moment, but, alas, I must. We need Prince Caleb here to be healed and well that's pretty much my specialty." Caleb and I both turned our heads to find a new person, a girl, standing in the aisle beside us. Her long blonde hair glinted the wide array of colors of the stained glass window giving her a fae like appearance. She certainly had the willowy structure down that all fae were acclaimed to have.

"Who are you?"

She smiled slightly and shook her head. "Sorry but I'll answer the questions after he's healed, I think it would be a lot more comfortable for all of us that way. Princess Sakira? Would you be a dear and help him take his shirt off? It's tattered to shreds, but it'll make it easier if it's just off."

I glanced down at his shirt, then back up to the girl, back to the shirt, back to the girl. I could already feel the blush rising to my skin. "Y…you want me to take his… shirt off?"

I could hear her chuckle but I my hands had suddenly become very fascinating. "Yes dear, I do believe that's what I said. His shirt needs to come off. Unless you'd rather me do it?"

"No! I mean… no I can do it … its just… does it HAVE to come off?" This time they both chuckled and my face turned a million times redder.

"Oh come on Kira, I don't think you'll mind the view." I could feel his breath tickling my ear as whispered it, I could feel the just how close we were. I shivered and I could hear him chuckle. Goosebumps were crawling all across my arms and legs.  
"Yes… I mean… no… I mean yes…uh no…?" I was already distracted. Oh Lord above help me, this was already going badly. I could feel his hands on mine pulling them to the bottom of his shirt, he wrapped my hands around the fabric and suddenly it seemed very hard to breath. Hormones… suck… very much.

"What's wrong Sakira?" I could practically hear the smile in his voice, especially when I shivered once again.

"Nothing" I was proud when my voice only wavered slightly. I pulled the shirt off slowly so I wouldn't hurt the wounds on his back, well; at least, that's what I told myself I was doing. In reality, well, let's say that years of training for being a prince evidently does wonders for the abs. I could see the muscles quiver a bit as my hands pulled the shirt up over his head.

I stared for about five seconds before I could hear someone clearing their throat, an obvious reminder that there was, in fact, another human being around. Blushing profusely I jumped to my feet quickly and stepping off to the side. "Well that was fun. Aaannyyyyway who are you again?" I asked trying to fill up that extremely awkward moment. That never happened, if anyone ever said a word I would deny it.

"Titania, I'm a friend of Drayton, Garret, and Tim. None of them are especially adept healers and, well, it's about the only thing I CAN do so we try to fill in each other's weak spots. They sent me here to try and help the Prince. So if you would so kindly lie on the bench I'll start."

"Wait," I interrupted. "Is this going to hurt him?"

"No, it won't feel… comfortable by any means, but it shan't hurt. It's going to be itchy too, no amount of magic can get rid of the itchiness it healing always seems to cause."

Caleb lied down on the bench and I could see the angry red marks crisscrossing his back. They weren't deep cuts, thankfully, but there were so many of them! I could feel disgust and anger well up inside me again but I tried to push it down, now was just not the right time for that. I watched Titania as she placed her hands just above the skin, and then her hands began to glow a dark pink color. I didn't know why I was surprised when I had been transported to and fro all day today, but I couldn't help but hold my breath. Everywhere her hands travelled over his back the ugly welts began to fade. Eventually all that was left were pale long scars. She leaned back on her heels and took a deep breath of air. She sounded absolutely exhausted but I was so glad she had healed him! She got up to her feet and rubbed her hands together, altogether the act of someone proud of their handiwork. "Well that's about the best I can do. It isn't perfect, the scars won't ever go away, and you'll most likely have occasional back pain for the rest of your life, but it is healed. You'll be fine to do whatever you please and it won't hurt anymore for the time being." She grinned slyly and suddenly I felt a little nervous. I never liked it when people grinned slyly; it just is never a good thing. "Now I'll leave you two lovebirds alone for the time being. We're rallying the troops as we speak and we want the two of you well rested. The meeting will be held here at dawn so in the meanwhile Andra told me to tell you to rest up. This place is safe; no one has come to this sanctuary for years. Now don't do anything you wouldn't want your fathers to know about." And with a wink she left leaving a very mortified me in her wake. I glanced over at Caleb and was glad to see he was nearly as mortified as I was; too bad I was too embarrassed to actually enjoy it.

"Umm well… that was… interesting." Caleb said glancing up at me. I plopped down on the bench again leaning my head back against the wood.

"Yea that sums up this entire trip quite well doesn't it? Interesting indeed." I sighed and rubbed my hand over my forehead.

"Relax Kira. You worrying won't help anything; it'll just cause more problems. Come here." I could feel his arm around my waist and I scooted over so my back was against his chest. I leaned my head back against his chest and closed my eyes, relaxing as his arms snaked around my waist. I turned my head so my ear was right next to his heart and I could hear it thumping softly in my ear. "That's right, relax sweetheart. We both should be getting some sleep. And since I'm such a sweetheart I'll even offer to be the pillow for tonight." I chuckled but already I was falling asleep. I had missed him so much and he really was quite warm. I heard him whisper softly "I love you Kira."

"love you too…" and then I drifted to sleep listening to his heart beat.


	24. Till Death Do You Part

"Well, I hate to wake up the love birds, but you simply must get up. We need to discuss battle plans if we are ever to get this revolution kicked into high gear," stated a very annoying voice very close to my ear. I didn't even bother with a response. It was much too early for all this gabber. I shifted only to feel a very sharp pain, well, everywhere. It was only then that everything flooded back, along with the realization that the moving thing behind my back was not the edge of a pew, but a very alive human. I sat up with a squeak just to hiss through gritted teeth. "Yes, you did have quite the unfortunate run in with the ill-mannered prince… I can heal those if you like…" Tatiana said, hand extended towards me. But I quickly swatted away the offer.

"No, I shall live. We have plans to discuss, remember?" I smiled, but the doubtful look on Tatiana's face told me that it was anything but convincing. Well, I had tried. "Really, I'm fine. Come onnn! I've been wasting away in that room. It will be a nice change to do something!" I felt like an old woman as I slowly got to my feet, ignoring the hand that Caleb held out. "No, please. Really guys, just stop would you? I am not a complete…" I stopped midsentence, caught when I noticed Caleb looking away, hand awkwardly tugged back by his side. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped, but I want to get this over with… there's this feeling I have that everything is going to go very wrong…"

"M'am! M'am you have to leave now! The prince has discovered the princess is missing and he's searching the entire castle for her! You've got to go!"

Tatiana sighed and when she looked at me, I could see the pain in her eyes. We both knew what was going to happen now. "I really wish you hadn't said that… Darren, how much time do we have?"

The young boy shifted foot to foot, his eyes glancing anxiously behind him. "I don't know. Five minutes? M'am please, you have to leave!"

"Darren, I will. Please, go yourself. We shall be fine." He hesitated, and from here I could see the decision playing in his head. He wanted to leave, that was obvious. He perched lightly on his toes, ready to sprint off if necessary, only his sense of duty kept him anchored to the ground. "Darren, please? You are not helping anyone by risking yourself in this situation." The relief rolled off his body in waves, and with a brisk nod he took off, moving as quickly as he could without looking as if he were running away. And then she glanced at me, a clear question to which I already knew the answer. I nodded, the slightest of movements, and once again Tatiana sighed like the world had just been lifted and put on her thin shoulders. "And Caleb, now we too part."

"Right. It's obvious we need to get Kira out of here. He won't stop until he has here. If you just have a couple of horses… she's quite adept at riding, and just someone else to go with her. I'll stay here and help with fighting of…"

"No. You must leave." I was shocked to hear the words come out of my own mouth. Not when every part of me was screaming to do exactly as he said, to run, to hide, and be safe. But I couldn't, and he had said the reason himself. It would never end until he had me, or who he thought I was. Caleb's mouth hung open and I could tell that he was trying to make sense of my words.

"Kira, that's ridiculous. You can't… you can't do that."

"I have to." It was all I said. It was all that needed to be said, and truth be told it was all I could say. If I continued talking, I knew that I would break down. I would plead for them to hide me. So I just bit my tongue and lifted my chin, determined to hold out.

"No." Caleb's rough hand grabbed my arm, and I could feel the pain where he held so tight that there was no chance I would be able to break free. I almost cried out, but that too, I would not allow myself to do. "I'm not letting you run off to play hero. I'm not letting you almost get yourself killed _again_, as I sit and do nothing!" He yelled, his face growing red, and suddenly he slumped, his energy gone as soon as it had come. "I can't do that again, Kira. Listen to me. I can't see you get hurt again while I can't do anything to protect you. It's torture, Kira. Worse than the whip… please…" he was pleading with me. Begging me, and I couldn't stand it. _I want to Caleb. I want you to protect me, and hold me. I'm scared. I don't want to do it. I want it to just go away… but I can't because if I give up now, we all die. Don't you see that? _I couldn't look at him. I hung my head, hair covering my face so he wouldn't see me cry. So I couldn't see the look on his face. And in the end so I wouldn't see when Tatiana silently walked over to Caleb, putting a hand on his shoulder, but instead of offering comfort, he began to slump to the ground. I looked up just in time to see the look of pure betrayal in his eyes before he crumpled to the floor like a puppet whose strings had been cut. _Caleb, I am so sorry. Please, forgive me. _

"Help me carry him towards the door. He'll wake up soon, and we'll need to get him as far away as possible." She spoke softly, as if to a scared child, and I wondered if maybe she had the right idea. Wasn't that all I was? A scared child who had gone on a quest with stars in her eyes, thinking everything would be a grand adventure? Hadn't I foolishly risked my life, and acted impulsively? And now, only now, did I see what a child I had been. And now, now I was truly scared because I realized what life I had to lose. I gripped his left arm, while she grabbed his right and slowly we carried him towards the door. She knocked softly 3 times, and the door rumbled open, two guards pushing it open. Without a word one of the men picked up Caleb, throwing him on his shoulder like he was just a heavy load of potatoes, and I almost yelled at the man for being careless, but I just watched as he slowly walked away in the dark tunnel, until I couldn't even make out the shape of the man meandering along. "Goodbye, and good luck." Tatiana squeezed my arm, and then she too walked off into the darkness. The last man left gave me a quick nod and a piteous glance before straining to close the door.

And finally, it too was gone without a trace and I was just staring at a wall, so much like every other wall there was in this castle-prison. With a quick turn I faced the used to be sanctuary. I looked to the very front, right where the alter used to stand, and caught my breath as I saw a girl staring back at me. Her brown hair was a matted mess, and tangled beyond repair. She would have to cut it short to get rid of all the rats nests. A bruise covered the entire right side of her face, making her appear as if she were half in shadow, where she used to be all light. There were bruises elsewhere, ones she could not see in the reflection, but one stood out to her. On the girl's left arm, there was a bruise that looked very much like the outline of a hand. My eyes wandered down to my own left arm, and I traced the mark softly, almost hardly believing it existed. A wave of exhaustion washed over me, and my legs crumpled beneath me. I had no energy left, and soon I would be in the hands of a man made mad by grief, and I had no idea what would happen to me. _God, if you have a miracle up your sleeve, now would be a great time… _it was funny. I hadn't given much thought at all. I had been raised a Christian, grown up with it, but somewhere along the line my faith had grown tired, and while I never gave it up, it slipped from my mind like a water through a sieve.

_I'm sorry God, for forgetting about you. I'm sorry for realizing this only when things are screwed up. Please, help me, though. I have nothing left in me. I'm just drained. I need you right now. Please, help me. _I could finally hear the sound of stomping feet, of shouting, and all the chaos coming from outside, getting ever closer to this once sacred place, but I tuned all of it out. _I'm scared. I'm really scared, God. I have no idea what to do. He'll hurt me God. _A door slammed nearby, and the yelling increased in volume. He was drawing nearer. _God, whatever you want to do here… that's ok. I'll be scared, and I might get angry, but… whatever you do, it's ok. Just, don't leave me alone… please don't let me be alone… __**You are never alone. You know I shall never leave you. **_And a sense of peace washed over me, filling every raw nerve, calming every racing heart and breath, renewing my energy. _Thank you. _And so when the Chapel door slammed open, and Prince Evan sauntered in with a smirk on his lips, I just slowly raised to my feet, no longer heeding the pain the laced through my body. _Remember, you said you'd stay with me. _"You shouldn't have run off like that. You know how I feel about you leaving me." I didn't say a word, just stared right at him. He fidgeted, just once, before straightening himself and glaring at me. "Answer me." Still I did not answer, and I could see the spark of anger flare in his eyes. "You keep leaving me. First all those years ago, and then I find you at war, a miracle, and you leave me again, and then once again just yesterday. Why do you keep leaving me?"

"Prince Evan, you know I am not Julianne."

He stopped in his tracks, and I could hear everything stop just for a second, before he rushed at me. My muscles tightened as I saw his hand prepare to strike me, but it stopped midway. "Stop lying!" He spat, with such vehemence I felt goose bumps crawl slowly up my spine.

"You know I'm not lying. Look at me. We're different. Prince, you know it's true." His eyes shifted frantically, and his hand dropped limply by his side. "You know I am not Julianne. She isn't here."

His slumped, his eyes squeezing shut to try and keep the outside from rushing in. "No," he whispered. "No, she isn't dead. I don't believe you."

"Evan, I never said she was dead, but you know deep inside of you that it is true. She isn't coming back." He straightened instantly, and I could see the spark of fire come back to his eyes. _Oh God, what did I get myself into? _

"You're a liar. You're her, and you're trying to run away again. Trying to run back to that other man. Oh, we have him, and he's paying sufficiently for his crimes. He may not make it out alive, you know, but that hardly matters. You're going to be mine anyway. The wedding is already prepared. You shall be mine, and you shan't leave me again. Perhaps we'll even invite the man, Caleb was it, to watch as you are married to me. If he's not dead by then." He said the last part almost flippantly, and I could hear my breath halt in my chest. _Not Caleb, don't let him hurt Caleb! _But, no, I remembered quite clearly Caleb was safe with Tatiana. She wouldn't have let anything happen… right? No, Caleb was safe.

"I won't marry you."

"Yes, you will!" He screamed, and winced slightly at the sound. He gripped my arm, harder, even, than Caleb had, and a small part of my brain wondered how many bruises I was going to get out of this little excursion. _So far, many, _my brain replied dryly. He began to tug me, and I dug my heels in, trying to find any purchase, but even that was taken away as a guard threw me over his shoulder. I tried hitting and biting, fighting and doing anything, but all it accomplished was having me gagged, and my hands tied together behind my back. The man smelled of sweat, and I was nearly glad when he dropped me unceremoniously in the middle of a small, bare room. There was literally nothing in it, except the hot bodies of four guards, Evan standing straight as a rod in the front of the room, and an old, balding man pulling at the collar of his robe. The old man fidgeted more when he glanced at my tied up form, and cleared his throat as he quickly looked away. I glared at Evan, and he once again smirked, as if he was sure everything was going his way.

"Umm, Sire… if I may…"

"No, you may not. It is not your place to question, but to do as your King says, and right now your King is commanding you marry your King to this woman. Now. And skip to the vows."

"But… Sire… to say the vows she must be un-gagged… I…no, Sire, please don't be angry with me, it's just she must say the vows for the wedding to be legitimate."

"Fine, but her hands stayed tied." He snapped his fingers and immediately a guard rushed forward to untie the knot behind my head. I spit out the nasty rag as soon as I felt the knot loosen, and obstinately held my tongue. _God, please help me. I'm running out of time, here! _"Say them!" I shook my head, and glared, but instead of his temper flaring, he smiled as if he had some witty joke he was dying to share. "Oh Princess, you simply must or you'll have this man's granddaughter's blood on your hands. Bring her in." The man who had carried me rushed to the door, sticking his head out to bark an order before coming back to stand behind the prince once again. I glared at the man, but inside my heart was hammering. Of course he would have some sort of incentive for me on hand. _God, where are you? _

A fifth guard entered, his hand guiding a small girl into the room. She couldn't have been more than 10, and she sniffled as she stepped forward. Her eyes stayed fixed on the floor, and my heart broke as I saw her small frame tremble. "My granddaughter! Please you said if I did this you would leave my family alone! Please!" The poor man objected, and Evan simply shrugged, a wicked smile on his face.

"She must marry me or our agreement is void. Don't worry too much, the Princess can't allow a poor child to die." I glanced at the Preacher and the look he gave me was so filled with begging, and pity, that I couldn't stand to look. I squeezed my eyes shut and wished that I could just wake up in my bed at home. Oh how nice if this were a dream! _There is no way out of it then, I'm stuck. __**Have faith, child. **__God, it's kind of hard to have faith right now! __**I know. Trust me. **_

"What must I say?" I refused to look anywhere but the ground.

"Just 'I do', child. What is your name? Your full name?"

"Sakira Denali Corinth"

"Do you, Sakira Denali Corinth, Rose of Florence, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do."

"And do you take this Rose as your lawfully wedded wife? To love and cherish her for the rest…"

"Stop the rambling, old man. I do."

"I am sorry my dear child, but I pronounce you now as husband and wife till death do you part."


	25. Married

I was married. Those simple words had given away and bonded me till death with a man I didn't know. Didn't love, and wasn't loved in return. None of this was how I expected my marriage to go. I doubt being kidnapped is any girl's dream of a marriage, but here I was. As a girl, I had pulled out all the stops on my imaginary marriage. His name was going to be Alfred, and I was going to wear the whitest dress with sequins everywhere, and all my toys were going to be invited. It was a rather horrible wedding plan now that I look back on it, and even the name was unpreferable, but I had to say anything would've been preferable to current reality. _God, why? _But there was nothing.

I was faintly aware of being dragged somewhere, but I was too shocked to do much about it. It wasn't until I was unceremoniously dropped on red carpet that I looked up from my stupor. Evan sat on a chair just staring at me, an unreadable expression on his face. "Why can't you love me? When I saw you… you… you looked dead, you were dead… but then you came back to me! I searched everyday for you. I searched everywhere. I couldn't believe you had left me after all our time together, how much we loved each other. I would've done anything for you. Did everything for you. And after that, you fall for… him! What has he ever done for you? Why… why him? Why… why can't you just love me? That's all I want… that's just… that's what I need. I need you to love me. I need you to stop leaving me, and just love me. Please? Is that too much to ask back?" Now I understood. This man in front of me was completely broken. I had God, but who did he have? This was a man so lost, so confused, and so broken, that his mind had been twisted just so he himself could have some semblance of survival. I stood up, and sat down right in front of him, placing my hand on his knee. It was shaking, and I noticed that it wasn't just his knee. His entire body was trembling like he was coming apart at the seams. Perhaps he was. Then, I looked into his eyes. They were filled with such shock, and hope that I could feel my heart wrench in my chest. I winced, and his hand immediately found it's way to my check. I flinched back, but realized that he hadn't even hurt me, he had been trying to comfort me. But, instead of losing his temper, he just looked at me with those heart wrenchingly sad eyes. They were eyes that made a girl want to fix, but there was nothing I could do to fix him. He had to learn to fix himself. It was the only way.

"Evan, listen to me." Every cell in his body had been focused on me since I had sat down in front of him, but still, I wanted him to hear me, not just listen. "I am not her." He flinched back instantly, and I could see his eyes shift away from mine instantly. I waited for the anger, for the blow, for anything but it didn't come. And when his eyes met mine, they weren't hardened and distant like I had expected. Instead, they were searching, looking for something that only he could see.

"To believe that is to believe that she died…" He looked away then, and quickly stood up, leaving my hand awkwardly in the air. "But you are her, and that's the end of the discussion. I'm tired. You will be expected to have breakfast with me tomorrow." I looked around the room, but all I noticed was a single bed on the farthest wall.

"What about sleeping arrangements?" My voice, unfortunately, came out more of a squeak, and his eyes turned to ice.

"We are married, you can sleep in the same bed as me. Be grateful that I am not yet taking advantage of other rights of our marital status." I shivered and his eyes narrowed to small slivers. "Don't look so disappointed, dear. I'm ever so sorry that I couldn't be your beloved Caleb. Please, can you ever forgive me. Sleep on the floor, then, but you will not receive blankets, and it gets cold at night." With one last glance, he rolled his eyes and moved to what I could only presume was the bathroom to change. It was then that I looked around the room. The entire room was decorated in the same presumptuous red as the carpet.

Anything that wasn't red was purple, and gold. A décor that I realized was supposed to represent royalty and power, but fell completely short and more rested solidly in an area of excessive, and garish. Even the wood was painted a blaring gold so bright that I wondered how anyone would keep from going blind during the day. It was perhaps because there were no windows to let in any sunlight. The only light to see by was from several candles that did reflect, in fact, off all the gold in the room. I sighed, and fell back on the carpet, determined to do exactly as he said and sleep on the floor. I had tried to tell him the truth, and for just a second he had listened. For a second, he had seen the truth instead of shutting it out, but then it all fell apart. And now he was back to being cold and glazed over. But there had been hope, even if it had just been for a second. Perhaps he could still be saved. _I've always had a plan. Just now you're seeing it. _I jumped in shock. I hadn't expected to hear that little voice after it had been so quiet earlier, but now, now it made sense. _You always are in control, aren't you? _ Again there was silence, but I didn't feel alone anymore. In fact, I slowly drifted off to sleep, surrounded on every side by the gaudy furniture and paint.


	26. The New Beginning

And that was how the month passed. I would wake up, he would make stay with him during the day, and at night I would sleep on the floor, praying that God would bring the rescue crew the next day. And one night, 32 days since my marriage, I woke with a start. There was someone else in my room. I could hear shallow breathing coming from the overly big bed standing solemnly in the center of the room. And it was so cold that my body shivered. It must have been that that had woken me from my sleep. But… still something felt wrong here. My breath caught in my throat as I saw a figure stalking across the room, a dagger in his hand. The strange person halted, hearing my intake of breath, and I saw the shadow's head tilt in my direction, obviously startled that there was someone else in the room. The figure stopped, and then it rushed over me, knife glinting maliciously silver. I could feel the cold blade against my neck, but there was no fear. It was as if I were just an observer to this madness. I blinked slowly, and wondered if I pinched myself I would wake up.

"Who are you. Now, before you die an unnecessary death." My heart thumped in my chest, and I wrapped my arms around the figure. The knife pulled back in shock, and I nearly laughed. Oh, how I had missed that voice!

"Caleb!" It was all that needed to be said before he wrapped his arms around me in a nearly crushing embrace. Oh, but I couldn't care less! He was here to save me! But, then reality sunk back in. My hands loosened from around him, and shook my head. No, he had to leave now before Evan could call the guards. I opened my mouth to say as much before his lips were crushed against mine with a bruising force. His arms wrapped around me even tighter till it really was almost hard to breath.

"No. I'm not doing it." He growled against my mouth, low enough not to be heard by anyone else but me.

"You don't…" I whispered back.

"No."

"Ca…"

"No."

"Will…"

"No."

"Ca…!"

"No!" We had gotten too loud, and we both froze as Evan's breath hitched. I heard a low groan, and then the bed shifted ever so slightly in night as he presumably rolled over. I tried to push away from him, but all I got was another low "no" for my troubles. He was not listening to me!

"I'm married!" I said with a quiet rush, and the selfish part inside of me cried out when his hands quickly loosened. "Now go, before Evan wakes up."

"What?" He breathed. I shook my head; he still wasn't listening to me. He had to get out of here! But, then he fell forward. Immediately I put my hand to his back to try and steady him, but all I could feel was cold, unrelenting steel, and warmth oozing between my fingers. I took my hand off his back, and held my hand in front of my face, as if I could see what the warm, sticky substance was that now covered my hand. Caleb fell into my lap, and now I could feel the same warmth covering my dress, soaking through the fabric. The world started to shake, and I glanced around seeing if I could find a source for the odd movement. But, there was nothing except Caleb, lying so oddly still on my lap, and the same strange liquid. Surely that wasn't right, but my brain couldn't seem to figure out what was wrong with the picture. In fact, it didn't seem to be working at all. Something warm touched my shoulder and I glanced up, shocked that there could be something so steady when the rest of the world was shaking so badly. A candle illuminated his face, and I knew it should look familiar, but I couldn't find the memories to tell how I recognized it.

"Come, dove. Let me help take off that dress. It seems it's been ruined." I looked down at my dress, curious as to what he could possibly mean. There, against the fabric, was a growing red stain seeping through everything. Caleb's stomach laid heavily across my knees, eyes open, looking into nothing but thin air. The shaking increased, and my heart pounded in my chest. No. Oh, God, no. Blood. So much blood that the air smelled of metal and… and… a wailing scream pierced everything.

It was that scream that woke me. It was dark once again, and I realized at once that it was me who was shaking so violently, not the world. It was only my personal world that had been crumbling to pieces. My eyes burned, and I could feel trails of cold liquid on my face. The ground my cheek lay on was wet. My lip was bleeding from where I had bit through the delicate skin in my terror. I didn't know if the scream had been real or just the by-product of my petrified mind. I didn't even know if it mattered, I was just thankful it had woken me from my nightmare. My heart fluttered against my chest and I took a shaky breath. The cold air filled my lungs and steadied me, if ever so slightly. It had been a dream.

Ah, but sometimes the truth does not soothe the fear and my hands quickly fluttered to my dress. Dry. No trace of… I sat up and clenched them together. They still shook. And suddenly I was filled with an anger so violent, I nearly gasped. How dare God do this to me! After I had decided to trust Him, and after I had done my best to be a good person! I didn't deserve any of this! And now, like some kind of sick joke, He had given me these dreams. Or, at the very least, He allowed me to have them. Why should I serve such a cruel god? I felt another cold gasp of air enter my lungs, and I could feel it cool the fire within. Sometimes, God and the devil both get blamed for something they didn't do. Sometimes, it's just us humans, making our choices. And while I hadn't chosen such an awful dream, how would it be fair to ask God to get rid of one bad thing because I didn't like it, but not remove the one bad thing that, perhaps, I didn't want Him to get rid of? I sighed, hating the thought at the same time that it gave me comfort. _But_, I thought, _at least I am no longer shaking. _Yet, now I had no idea what to do. I had no idea when Evan would wake, and I knew that nothing pleasant would come of leaving without him.

Evan was a constant paradox. There would be times when he could almost be described as tender, but then he would snap at… Every muscle in my body froze stiff as a horrible thought entered my mind. Surely he hadn't always been this way. Drayton himself had said so. But if he had hid it so well in the camp, then who was to say that no one had simply noticed before? In the camp, he had been a different person, a person whom I could see a woman easily falling in love with. And, once she had fallen in love with him, perhaps she would stay. Perhaps she would stay, even when she saw the worst of his temper, and he hit her. She would stay with him because she would want to fix him, and he would always say such nice words afterwards. He would apologize, and perhaps even cry, telling her how much she needed him. Perhaps she would see two different people, and while she hated the one, she would stay for the other. Perhaps, one day, he lost the one man, and in his rage, he had killed his dear princess.

My back hit against something solid, and an involuntary squeak escaped my lips. I would have given anything, in that moment, to be able to grasp that single sound and pull it back into my chest, but it was too late. There was a noise as something hit the floor, and I only had time to think of a cougar jumping to the ground, before a dagger was to my throat, and a warm breath was in my face. I tried to flinch back, but I was solidly caught against what I now recognized as the closest wall. During my thoughts, I had subconsciously been moving backwards, trying to escape, and now I had none.

"Oh, it's you." The knife pulled back from my neck instantly and I took in a shaky breath.

"I thought you were some assassin trying to kill me in the night. I suppose I'm not used to someone else sleeping in my room." I clenched my hands in the carpet, not willing to make a noise. He leaned down in front of me, his hand landed lightly against my cheek. My lips burned as I bit once again into them.

"Go back to bed, dove." He whispered. His lips brushed my cheek and I clenched my eyes shut.

"Why did you call me dove?"

There was a soft chuckle and another kiss on my nose. "I've told you this story. You were holding a dove with a broken wing and you smiled up at me, and it was then I knew I loved you. You remember?" He kissed my forehead and I shook my head.

"You don't remember?" I shook my head again. My throat swelled and I tried to speak, but words would not come.

"My silly little bird. You must be tired, go to bed." He got up to walk away, and I shifted away form the wall.

"I can't sleep," I whispered, hoping he wouldn't hear it. But he stopped and I could hear his footsteps coming back my direction. I grasped my legs harder as he put a casual arm around my shoulders.

"Why not?"

A thought, almost as terrifying as the previous, flashed across my mind, terrifying in the hope that it stirred in my heart.

"I guess I'm just not tired." I sighed, forcibly loosening the grip on my legs.

"Oh? But, the sun won't rise for another hour."

"Maybe, I could go for a walk around the castle? It would tire me out with how big the castle is." His arm around me tightened and I had to stop myself from flinching.

"That would be fine. I will accompany you. For safety." He stood, pulling me up roughly by the shoulder. "Come." He dragged me to the door, and roughly pulled out a key from a chain around his neck. He shoved it into the lock, and nearly dragged me out of the room.

"You're hurting me." His grip loosened instantly, and he stopped mid step.

"I'm sorry. I suppose I was anxious." He turned the corner, and started tugging me, gentler this time, in a seemingly random direction.

"I want to show you something." It was so dark, I couldn't see him, but I pictured him smiling. And then he turned the corner, and there, between two glowing lamps, was a portrait of Evan, and a girl I had only seen in polished metal. She smiled, ever so gently, and Evan's arm was wrapped tightly around her figure. He smiled down at her, but she looked straight at the painter. And in her eyes, I noticed some sort of quiet pain. It was then I noticed other things. Her sleeves hung down past her wrists, even though the background was depicted to be summer. Her hair hung loosely, hiding part of her face. Her hair was darker than mine, though, and her eyes were as blue as water. And I knew who it was immediately.

"Why did you kill her?" I whispered.

He turned to face me, a smile on his lips.

"What, dove?"

"Why did you kill her?"

"Kill who, dove?" His eyes glinted dangerously, but I no longer cared. I would not surrender anymore. I would not run. I would fight if it came to that. I would no longer stand this as she had before. I was tired of sitting back and waiting.

"Why did you kill her? Why? Was it because she wasn't perfect? Was it because just once she didn't do as you said? That gives you no right! She was a human! We aren't perfect, in fact in many ways we let people down. We die, we make mistakes, but that gives you no right. No excuse. Why did you kill her?"

"Why? You know why! You were going to leave me! You told me you were going to leave! You told me you loved me, but it was a lie! How could I? How could you!" He lunged for me, drawing his dagger. And I waited till he was almost too close, and then ducked, grabbing his legs as I went. He fell behind me and the dagger fell from his grasp. I jumped for it but he had recovered more quickly than I thought. He threw a solid punch to my face and my vision went black, just for a second. But it was a second too long, and the dagger was to my neck again. Blood trickled down my neck, and I tried to push it away, but he grabbed my hands easily. He was too strong, and driven by madness.

"I win, Dove. You won't leave me. Not again." And the cold steel pressed against my neck. More blood poured, and I wished I could do something. Anything. But everything was shaking again, getting dark around the edges. And a piercing yell filled every cell in my body.

I was somewhere in between. There may have been a light. My life may have flashed before my eyes. I may have finally understood all the mysteries the world had kept so closely guarded. I don't remember. I remember warmth. I remember… but the words alluded me. Some part of my brain wondered if, perhaps, someone passed out enough times, if they would just get used to it. I surely had had plenty of experience, but still, this floating nothing called me. Called me away from the pain I knew would be coming.

It was the voice, though, that called me. You are still needed, it said. Wake. And so, I did. My eyes opened. And there was Caleb, sleeping on a chair next to my bed. I couldn't believe it. It had to be a dream, and I lifted my hand to pinch myself. I hadn't expected it to hurt, so when I felt a solid pain in my arm a cry left my lips, and Caleb jumped with a start, glancing around as If he didn't know where he was.

"You're awake. You're alive." I couldn't say anything. My heart was trying to understand what was happening to it. So many emotions, so many thoughts I was afraid to process. He raised his hand and I flinched back, waiting for the hit, but of course that was silly. I hoped he hadn't noticed, but his hand froze in the air, and I registered the shock in his eyes.

"I'm sorry." It came out a whisper that I wasn't sure he had heard. I reached for his hand, and clasped it in mine. He smiled then, faintly, and squeezed back. I tried to smile back, but I think it probably came out as more of a wince.

His eyes widened and he jumped from his seat, loosening his grip on my hand. "Are you hurt? I'll go get…" I stopped grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"No, I don't hur…" I stopped and my hand flew to my neck. Had all that been a dream? No, there was no way. It had hurt too much. Felt too real. There was no way it could've been a dream, but then how was my neck better?

He truly smiled then, and leaned close like he was whispering a secret. "Remember, we have a girl who can freakishly heal people?" His eyes grew serious, "but, she couldn't heal it all the way; she said the scar won't go away." He looked away then, and I knew he was thinking the same thing as I. She had meant more than just the physical scar. There wasn't a way for any human to heal the scars I now had on my heart. "I'm glad you're alive."

"What happened?"

He sighed then, and his eyes tightened. "It took longer than was expected to get people to believe Olivia. And then, when we got to the castle, we found you lying on the…" he stopped and I could hear him swallow. "Evan was nowhere to be found, but another team found him later. He's in the dungeons, now."

"What are they going to do to him?"

"I don't know. He has a lot of crimes to pay for. He said… he wanted his wife. Was he talking about you?" I nodded, and his fists clenched. "What did he make you do?"

"He… forced me to marry him… he was going to kill…"

"My granddaughter," a voice interrupted. A man, the priest I remembered, walked in, his head low. "I apologize for interrupting, but I heard the noise from outside. I need to talk to this one. Perhaps it would be better for you to go, son."

"No, I will not leave."

The priest stared at Caleb, but then nodded his head. His eyes turned back to me, and I could see the sorrow that lay in them. An anger rose inside me, but I quickly pushed it down. He had had as much choice as I.

"My dear, thank you for saving my granddaughters' life. I owe you more than I can say. And now I need to ask you… did he force you to consummate the marriage?" I gasped, and deliberately forced myself to look away from Caleb. "Did he?" He asked his hand covering my own.

"No."

The old man sighed, and I saw him nod his head.

"Then it never happened."

My head shot up, and the priest must have understood the question in his eyes, because for the first time I saw him smile.

"The marriage, under the eyes of the law, never happened. It was not consummated within the 30 days of your marriage."

"What?"

"You're not married. By law, you never were. You are free to marry whomever you want." I glanced at Caleb, and for the first time in ages, I felt myself truly smile.


End file.
